


Unravel

by Kuro-tan (dSuzuha)



Series: Unravel [1]
Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, F/M, Gen, M/M, Paralysis, Slow Build, volume 13 spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 22:10:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 27,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5602810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dSuzuha/pseuds/Kuro-tan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After losing to Shizuo, Izaya succumbs to his wounds away from Ikebukuro where no one will see him fade away. Everyone has their regrets, but none will bring back the dead.</p><p>Two years later, a writer arrives in Ikebukuro. His eyes are the same shade as Izaya's.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Namie; the end

**Author's Note:**

> Slight spoilers for chapter 13? I mean, it's not very obvious, but if you've read the light novel you'll know what I mean.
> 
> Title is from Unravel - TK from Ling Tosite Sigure.

"Namie," he rasped. The man in a surgical gown stared lifelessly at the ceiling, his eyes eerily blank. It was no surprise he was bedridden, the injuries he sustained were grevious and would have killed him if not for her medical expertise.

Namie sighed exasperatedly, though they both knew it was an act. She walked over to his bedside, her own surgical gown trailing a little behind her. It had been a while since she operated on someone, so the gown felt awkward and the surgical mask felt heavy on her face. But Namie knew that she could execute the surgery without much hassle. Unlike Seiji, she had been trained from birth to do this.

"The preparations are complete," Namie said. She stroked his bony fingers, whether it was to reassure him or herself neither of them knew.

Another thing she would not have imagined doing before - caring for Izaya. Not in the physical sense, since she had tended to Izaya's wounds before, but feeling worried for him. She never imagined feeling concern for the man she worked for. She never imagined that she would have to feel concerned about him.

He was strong, infallible. He played people like he played the violin, making people dance to his tune and snapping their strings when he was done. But now he was like a puppet without strings, a mere doll that was discarded because it was broken. And in a way, he was.

There was nothing left of the man known as Orihara Izaya. He died in the battle against Shizuo. 

He closed his eyes slowly. "You're going to America after this?"

"Not immediately," Namie replied. "Seiji is still in high school, I need to support him."

"Leave the apartment and ten million yen. Take everything else."

Namie's eyes widened. Izaya's fortune was no small sum. She should know, she had been managing his finances for the past year or two. With that amount of money, Namie could afford to retire and live comfortably for the rest of her life. But the money he was giving her was blood money. True, the salary she got from Izaya was not exactly attained through legal means, but this was different. This was Namie being directly responsible for the death of someone. Even with human test subjects and whatnot, she never placed their scalpel in their flesh with the intent to kill. This time, Namie was going to do it. She was going to knowingly kill someone.

With his eyes still closed, he smiled weakly. "Seiji needs you, right?"

"He does," Namie said. The words  _you need me too_ were left unsaid between them. 

So many things between them were left unsaid. Belatedly, Namie wished she took the time to understand him better. When she thought about it, he was just a lonely person. He wanted people to understand him, so he took the time to observe and understand them. But that only drove him further away from normal human interaction, and eventually he was left alone. He claimed to not want human interaction, but he seeked it in his everyday life. Not that he would ever admit it, the prideful bastard.

"When have you ever worried about me?" He asked sarcastically.  _Why are you having doubts now_ was what she heard instead. That obnoxious smirk of his faded into something softer, something closer to understanding. Surprising, considering the bastard Namie was talking to. "Goodbye, Namie. It was nice knowing you."

"Can't say the same for me," Namie bit back. Izaya was always doing as he pleased, never caring about what others thought. He never cared about how others would feel when he pulled their strings, he never cared about how his words affected people. He certainly did not care about Namie's feelings now.

Burying her heart, Namie snapped on some latex gloves. She would guarantee the end of Orihara Izaya.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor edits: 8/1/2016.


	2. Shinra; a friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now, he only had one friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh right, this doesn't take SH into account.

Celty chose to stay with Shinra. The streets of Ikebukuro were peaceful. Color gangs were brought under control by their respective leaders, and if not by law enforcement. No one was prancing about cooking up useless schemes to oppose the Awakusu-kai or taunting Shizuo into causing mass urban destruction.

So why was Shinra still unhappy?

Celty curled up beside Shinra. They were in their shared apartment, on the sofa watching the news about how crime rate in Ikebukuro decreased dramatically compared to the past month. Shinra was still dressed in his lab coat as usual. The work of an underground doctor never ended, since clients knew where he lived and could barge in at any time.

[Shinra, is something wrong?]

Shinra beamed. "Of course not, my love. Why do you ask?"

Celty typed in her PDA and shoved it in Shinra's face. [You're lying. I can tell. Come on, you can trust me.]

Shinra sighed. Of course he could not hide anything from Celty. She was just too perceptive. "I'm just thinking about how peaceful our lives are compared to last month."

Celty paused. She looked at her PDA for a while while her finger hovered over the screen. Eventually, she resumed tapping. [You mean about Izaya?]

"I guess," Shinra nodded. Truthfully, Izaya did not cross his mind until Celty mentioned him, but he was not going to tell her. "I mean, this time it was obviously his fault that he landed into this situation, so I can't say he didn't deserve it."

[But?]

"But he's my friend, Celty." Shinra sighed. "Despite all the things he's done, he's still my friend. I want to know if he's alright."

She jabbed the PDA harder than usual while typing. [He had my head and he didn't return it!]

"Because I told him to hold on to it for me." Sensing Celty's confusion, Shinra continued. "I mean, we talked about this before. I didn't want to lose you."

Yagiri Namie and himself were acquaintances, bonded through their shared love for illegal medicine. They conducted a lot of illegal experiments together. He was the one who told Namie to find Izaya if she did not want to give up possession of Celty's head to Nebula. He was the one who told Izaya to keep the head and the one who told Izaya to use the head however he saw fit. Basically, Celty's head was not Izaya's fault, no matter how it looked like to anyone else. Izaya just made it look like it was his fault, like that day when he took the blame for Shinra's stabbing.

Celty jumped up from her seat and held out her PDA. [Besides that, he still ruined Shizuo's life! Getting him kicked out of jobs and framing him for crimes!]

Shinra nodded solemnly. "Yes, Orihara-kun did do that. But he's still my friend." To this day, he still had no idea what drove Izaya to do those things to Shizuo, seeing as how Izaya preferred to be a bystander rather than be directly involved. He had his suspicions, but they would never be confirmed now that Izaya had gone permanantly into hiding.

If Celty's head was attached to her neck, Shinra was sure she would be holding it in her hands. [You're impossible.]

Shinra huddled her closer. "I'm yours." His hands looped around her shapely waist and pulled her even closer, pressing her body against his. Celty responded by punching him in the gut. Shinra doubled over, groaning in pain. "Ah, Celty, you're as strong as ever."

[You're not getting out of this conversation so easily!]

"What's there to discuss? All the answers lie with Orihara-kun," Shinra pointed out. "Ask him youself when he comes out of hiding."

There was no doubt that Izaya was in hiding. It had been more than a month since anyone heard from him or his secretary. Not surprising, since many people would jump at the chance to kill Izaya while he was still weak. The unsettling part was that even though Izaya was obviously severely wounded, he had not contacted Shinra even once. Shinra was like his personal doctor, the one he went to when he was injured. Except that one time when Shinra was on vacation and Izaya got stabbed, the only person who attended to Izaya was Shinra.

In his lab coat, Shinra's phone rang. Shinra pulled it out and read the caller ID.  _Yagiri Namie_ , it said. He picked it up without hesitation. "Hello, Kishitani speaking."

"Izaya is dead. I killed him."

Shinra blinked in surprise. "Huh?" The words did not register in his mind. Izaya, dead? Impossible. The guy was like a cockroach, nothing killed him. 

"I couldn't stand playing nursemaid to that wounded bastard, so I killed him. I took his money too, so none for you."

He gripped the phone hard enough to crack its screen. Shinra may not be Shizuo, but using a bone saw required a surprising amount of strength. Besides, the yakuza were not very friendly people. Shinra needed to have a baseline of fitness to work as an underground doctor. If Shinra had a bone saw and that woman on an operating table, he would be so happy. "So what's the purpose of this phone call? To gloat? To make me despair? Yagiri-kun, I may not be an informant, but I have my own resources. You better hope I don't find you."

As if that bitch did not listen to a word he said, she prattled on. "I arranged his funeral to be a week from now. It's your choice if you want to show up. I'll email you the details later." Without another word, she ended the call. 

In an uncharacteristic fit of anger, Shinra threw his phone across the room.


	3. Kururi and Mairu; a brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They always had each other, but their brother was also with them from the beginning.

Kururi and Mairu held hands throughout their brother's funeral. 

It was stupid. They heard about the funeral from Shinra, who had been told about Izaya's death by his secretary. The twins, Izaya's immediate family, had to find out about their brother's passing from someone else. It was unfair.

Izaya had been with them from the very beginning. They had each other, but they also had their brother. He may have been the reason they turned out a little odd, but he was also the reason they were alive to begin with. While their parents always sent back more than enough money, it was Izaya took care of them. Izaya walked them to school even though he would be late himself. Izaya packed their lunchboxes. Izaya brought them shopping for clothes to make sure they were properly clothed for the season.

When asked why he continued to take care of his sisters, Izaya never replied with a straight answer. Later at night, he read them a bedtime story like he always did. He petted their heads as he did, lulling them to sleep slowly. Just as the twins fell asleep, Izaya murmured, "I did it because I wanted to. Because no one else would."

Izaya's funeral was a quiet affair. There was obviously Shinra and Celty, and for once neither of them were wearing their usual outfit. Shinra wore a suit without his lab coat, and Celty wore a black frilly dress. Mikage, as well as some of Izaya's high school friends, were there as well. Simon from Russia Sushi offered some sushi as an offering instead of incense. Some of the Awakusu were lurking in a corner, and it was only Kururi's presence that prevented Mairu from shouting at them to man up and pay respects to Izaya like the rest of them did.

They both knew how much he sacrificed for the Awakusu-kai. He may not have been completely loyal to them, but he did do a fair share of their dirty work. The Awakusu-kai executives never saw how, when he was starting out as an informant, he would return home to bandage and treat his own wounds. They never saw him losing sleep to reach deadlines that were almost impossible to meet, sitting in front of his laptop for days on end, only stopping to make sure that Kururi and Mairu were eating and going to school instead of staying at home to keep an eye on him.

One day, Izaya sustained a head injury that had him bleeding sluggishly from it. Along the length of his arms were evenly spaced slices that the twins knew were not self-inflicted. His clothes were soaked in blood, but the twins knew instinctively that the worst wounds were afflicted to his mental state. When fussed over, Izaya only told the twins to back off and locked himself in the toilet. He never came out until the next morning.

From that day onwards, Izaya only wore long sleeved shirts.

Their parents could not make it back in time for the funeral (surprise, surprise), so the two of them were left to keep vigil for Izaya. Shinra and Celty were the last to leave, Celty telling them to call her so that she could send them home. They sat in silence, holding each other's hands. Now they only had each other.

"Oh, you're still here."

Mairu smiled, but she knew it did not reach her eyes. "Shizuo-san." The strongest man of Ikebukuro was still wearing a bartender suit, though Mairu supposed it would do. It was black and white, after all.

"Surprising (why are you here?)" Kururi added softly.

Shizuo pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "To pay my respects to the flea, duh. Just... don't tell anyone I was here."

None of them knew what to say to the other. Shizuo would not offer words of comfort. Rather, he could not. Izaya and Shizuo had a long standing rivalry that would not have been resolved with Izaya's death. Kururi and Mairu, despite all the death threats and indifference towards their brother's welfare, truly cared for him. They just never believed that he would fall.

Shizuo broke the silence first. "In the end, I guess I am a monster."

Mairu's eyes widened. "Shizuo-san, you're not a monster!" Kururi nodded in agreement.

"Really? Then why is your brother lying in a coffin over there?" Shizuo took a long drag of his cigarette and blew out some smoke. "We had a fight. He lost. I guess he succumbed to his injuries."

Mairu shook her head furiously. "Ask Shinra-san. His evil secretary did him in." There was no way kind, gentle Shizuo would kill a person. 

(Then again, they also believed their brother was indestructable once.)

Shizuo smiled bitterly. "I will."


	4. Kadota et al; respect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neither friend nor foe, but they held respect for him all the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise to write longer chapters after the timeskip.

It was rare for them to ride in complete silence since Walker and Erika would be chattering away about some anime or other, but tonight even they saw it fit to keep quiet. 

Kadota had known Izaya the longest. They were in the same high school together, and even though they did not converse much there was a mutual respect between each other. Kadota respected Izaya's intelligence, and Izaya respected Kadota's skill at fighting. Though they were not truly friends, Izaya did talk to Kadota about matters of the heart since Shinra would be close to useless according to things like that.

Walker and Erika knew of Izaya before they met him. He was more infamous underground, and one could pick out newbies from the old timers and the weak from the strong by just saying his name. Only the most powerful people like Shiki and Akabayashi of the Awakusu-kai could hope to face Orihara Izaya. Erika secretly admired him from the stories they told.

Neither of them knew Izaya was the one who pulled strings to get them out of criminal organizations at Kadota's request until today. They always assumed that Kadota talked them into leaving, they submitted their resignations and that was the end. They never knew that they had been chased and stalked after they left until Kadota called Izaya in for a favor. And, as everyone knew, Izaya's favors did not come cheap.

Togusa slowed the van a little. "Kadota, that was..." he trailed off, but all of them saw what Togusa meant. Shizuo was stalking towards the direction of Izaya's funeral.

"Dotachin! That was definitely ShizuShizu! He's going to see his one true love and cry dramatically in the rain because he could not protect him!"

"Oi, oi, we have to stop him, he'll wreck the funeral!" Walker exclaimed. Togusa started to turn the van around, but Kadota put a hand on his shoulder and motioned for them to keep driving. It was already late and Kadota had a job the next morning. Even with someone's death, life still went on.

"Shizuo's not that kind of person. And Erika, it's not even raining," Kadota pointed out. He tactfully did not point out that if Izaya did succumb to his wounds, Shizuo was likely the cause of Izaya's death. Not that Kadota blamed Shizuo. The two had fought for close to ten years but neither of them got seriously hurt in any of their bouts. Izaya had always flirted with danger, skirted the line of life and death and gambled with his life. It was only luck that brought him this far.

Erika stomped her feet indignantly. She gestured wildly, trying to make a point. "If they were really enemies to the core, Shizucchi would just stay away from the funeral. But if you say he's not going to trash it either, then why is he headed in that direction?"

For once, not even Walker had an answer for her.


	5. Chatroom; no. 1

[Saika has logged in.]

[Bakyura has logged in.]

[Saki has logged in.]

[Pure Water 100% has logged in.]

Bakyura: Yo!

Saki: Hello.

Pure Water 100%: Never seen you in the chat before!

Saika: Hello...

Bakyura: Well, I've been busy with work.

Bakyura: But my boss went missing about a month ago, so I figured it was time to give myself a break.

[Setton has logged in.]

Setton: Good evening!

Saki: Good evening.

[Tanaka Taro has logged in.]

Tanaka Taro: Wow, a lot of people are online today! 

Saika: It seems so.

[Kyo has logged in.]

[San has logged in.]

San: Hello.

Kyo: I agree with you, Tanaka Taro-san. Usually there are less than five of us at any given time.

Kyo: But counting San and I, there are now eight people online.

Kyo: Hmm, eight. Was there a user called Eight? I'm not sure myself.

San: Kanra won't be coming anymore.

Setton: Huh?! Why?

Tanaka Taro: Eh?

Pure Water 100%: What?

Bakyura: Idiot went missing, didn't 'she'?

Kyo: Bakyura-san, you know Kanra IRL? So do we. In fact, we just went to his funeral.

Saika: His...?

Saki: Wait, Kanra-san has passed away?

San: Yes.

Pure Water 100%: Oh, that's so sad...

Pure Water 100%: My condolences. 

Tanaka Taro: How did it happen? 

Kyo: We don't know. He keeps us strictly out of his business. If it weren't for loopholes, we wouldn't even be in this chatroom.

[Kanra has logged in.]

Saika: Ghost?

Bakyura: AAH!

Setton: Wait, what's going on? 

Kanra: The admin of this chat, Orihara Izaya, is dead.

Pure Water 100%: Orihara Izaya?!

Saki: Who are you?

Kanra: Does it matter?

Tanaka Taro: It does! You took his handle and you're messaging us now!

Bakyura: What the fuck.

Saika: I'm confused. 

San: Get out.

San: [This chat has been censored due to inappropriate content.]

Kanra: I will pass admin rights to Setton, since she has been here the longest.

Setton: Huh?!

Kanra: I'm sorry for your loss.

[Kanra has logged out.]

[San has logged out.]

[Kyo has logged out.]

Tanaka Taro: Poor San and Kyo... That must have been a huge shock to them.

Setton: It's a huge shock to me.

Setton: I mean, I've been chatting with Orihara Izaya this whole time?

Pure Water 100%: I feel the same way.

Saika: Who would've thought.

Bakyura: Sorry, I'm gonna log out first! 

Saki: Same here. Bye!

[Bakyura has logged out.]

[Saki has logged out.]

Tanaka Taro: Since everyone's logging out, I'll go too. Bye!

[Tanaka Taro has logged out.]

Pure Water 100%: Bye!

[Pure Water 100% has logged out.]

Saika: Setton-san?

Setton: I'll be going too.

[Setton has logged out.]

[Saika has logged out.]

[There is no one left in the chat.]


	6. Tom; debt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No matter how much Tom tried, there were some things that people had to deal with on their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does Shizuo call Tom -san or -senpai?  
> Also, I don't know how Vorona speaks.  
> Is her name Varona or Vorona?  
> This chapter sucks. /sob

Tom was an ordinary man. He did not have Shizuo's superhuman strength or Vorona's skills, but he liked to believe that he contributed his fair share to society all the same.

He knew that in the vast pool of human resources, he was dispensable. He did not have any outstanding talents like Shizuo or intelligence that rivalled Izaya's, but he was human all the same. He wanted to be of use to others.

It was one of the reasons he approached Shizuo in junior high. Seeing Shizuo with a sign in his hand with the people he beat up sprawled around him, it was natural to feel fear. But Tom steeled himself and asked Shizuo to help him send everyone to the hospital, because he knew deep down that Shizuo would never hurt someone who never hurt him. He wanted to help Shizuo to see his own humanity before it became too late.

In a way, Tom saw Shizuo in Vorona as well. Vorona was not a complicated woman. She was bad at expressing herself in both words and actions, but her heart was surprisingly pure. Perhaps the only difference between her and Shizuo was that Vorona actively seeked violence while Shizuo only acted in retaliation. But, like Shizuo, Tom believed that she could change.

Today was one of the rare days where Shizuo actually requested to leave early. Tom and Vorona were left to deal with the last person for the day, but Tom expected there would be no problems with this person.

"Without Shizuo-senpai, the mood is certainly dull," Vorona said. 

Tom laughed a little. "Don't you mean, 'I wish Shizuo was here'?"

Surprisingly, Vorona nodded. "Affirmative." They fell into a comfortable silence, Tom leading them to the place and Vorona one step behind. It was like that with Shizuo as well, so Tom paid it no mind.

Vorona broke the silence first. "I formally submit my resignation now. I will be returning to Russia once my partner is done with his duties."

Tom did not ask about Vorona's partner. Her ties to the people from Russia Sushi were not just because she was Russian. "When are you leaving?" he asked.

"Approximately two weeks, perhaps a month. I will inform you of the exact date later."

"Have you told Shizuo?"

Vorona stiffened behind him. "Negative. I... I cannot bring myself to."

"He has to know sometime," Tom pointed out. "May as well be sooner than later."

"I have already told Shizuo-senpai about my coming departure," Vorona explained. "I have yet to tell him of my feelings."

Ah, so that was it. Tom knew that Vorona had a thing for Shizuo, though he was surprised that she admitted it so freely. Her desire to fight someone stronger than her evolved into an obsession, and it somehow twisted into a warped form of love.

Absently, Tom wondered if that was what happened with Izaya.

Tom turned back to meet Vorona's eyes. He knew that Shizuo only saw Vorona as a valuable kohai. But he also knew that he would not do anything to hurt her. What could he say that would make her feel at ease? "You should settle things with Shizuo before you leave," Tom smiled. "You never know if he'll accept your feelings until you try."

"I do not want him to accept my feelings."

Tom's eyes widened.

Vorona continued. "I assume you are vaguely aware of Russia Sushi's origins. Semyon and Dennis are dangerous people, and so am I. I... am not fit to walk alongside Shizuo-senpai."

"Vorona-" Tom started, but he was interrupted by her.

"According to my observations, the chances of Shizuo-senpai accepting my feelings is less than five percent at best. I would prefer not to have it rubbed in that Shizuo-senpai does not return my feelings.

"Besides, I am a killer. Unlike Shizuo-senpai, I have killed many, many people. Shizuo-senpai is a gentle person. If he chooses to walk with me, he will not be the same Shizuo-senpai I fell in love with for long. I do not wish for him to turn out that way."

Tom sighed. He honestly did not know what to say to Vorona, and the usual words of comfort eluded him or just did not seem right for the situation. Even Shizuo was not this emotionally constipated when they first met. But this was something Vorona had to deal with on her own. All he could do was support her silently.


	7. Celty; a burden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Celty never thought it possible to hate Izaya more when he was dead. He also had a habit of proving her wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title says Celty, but it's really just a Shizuo monologue lol

It was not often that Shizuo came over for dinner, so Celty looked forward to the occasion. Shinra had been very busy with work since Izaya's death, but today he texted back, telling her that he probably could make it back for dinner. It made her - or rather, her disembodied head - smile. She could spend time with the two most precious people in her life. Nothing made her happier.

Celty's cooking had improved since the day she started learning from Mika, but she wanted to play it safe in case she burnt anything. In the end, she made a bunch of crab balls and cooked some rice and miso soup. There were some vegetables, but they were a little singed. Celty hoped Shizuo would not mind.

Shizuo arrived about ten minutes after the crab balls came out of the fryer. "Hello," her head called from the living room. Using her head, she could see in two places at once, which was how she knew that Shizuo had let himself in. It was a little disconcerting at first, but Celty got used to it.

Shizuo, however, was not used to it even after a month. "That still creeps me out," Shizuo declared. "Sorry, but could you just type or something? I, uh, need to get used to your head." Celty's head nodded. Shizuo shuddered visibly.

Celty emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron and holding a ladle. [Shizuo, honestly. You're the strongest man in Ikebukuro. How could you get frightened by such a thing?] Celty chided.

"I'm sorry," Shizuo grumbled, eyeing the head with a disdainful look. It was actually laughing at him. "Anyway, where's Shinra?" Shizuo asked, changing the subject.

[He's coming back soon. Do you mind if we wait for him?]

Shizuo shook his head. "I don't mind. I've got some stuff to ask him anyway." He took a seat on the couch and made himself comfortable, checking his phone for messages and replying to Kasuka and Tom. Celty went back to the kitchen to stir the soup.

Shinra arrived about five minutes later. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Celty!" Shinra beamed as he threw open the door. "Oh Shizuo! Did you wait long?"

"Nope," Shizuo said, popping the 'p' at the end. "Just got here myself."

"Great! Let's start! I can't wait to eat the food Celty cooked for me." Shinra dumped his bag on the opposite end of the couch and stalked to the kitchen. Shizuo got off the couch and followed him. They thanked Celty for the food and dug in.

Celty made more food than usual because she knew that Shizuo was coming, but it seemed like Shizuo did not have much of an appetite. He only ate one bowl of rice and three crab balls. Eventually, he stopped eating and pushed his rice bowl away. Shinra, however, did not seem to notice, eating and complimenting Celty's food with fervor.

Shizuo cleared his throat and asked, "So, how did the flea die?"

Shinra put down the crab ball he held in his chopsticks.

Shizuo elaborated. "I mean, you treated his wounds, didn't you?"

"No. I was on vacation with Celty."

"But-"

Shinra placed his chopsticks down with a soft 'click' and flashed a smile that did not reach his eyes. It reminded Celty of the way Izaya used to smile. "Don't remind me, Shizuo. Don't remind me that I wasn't there for him when he needed me." His phone rang. It was a newer model, Shizuo noted, one that came out last month. "Oh, a house call. Keep the food warm for me, Celty. I probably won't be back tonight." Even as he said it, he pushed himself away from the table, gathered his bags and left.

Shizuo lowered his eyes. "I didn't know Shinra beat himself up about it."

Celty decided to explain. Hopefully, Shizuo would understand why Shinra reacted that way. [When Izaya got stabbed by Yodogiri Jinnai, Shinra and I were on vacation. Izaya called and told Shinra he got stabbed, but Shinra hung up on him. Izaya sicced the police on Shinra.]

"That sounds like something that stinking flea would do," Shizuo huffed. Despite its content, his words were not laced with malice.

[Shinra felt guilty afterwards. When he was attacked in our apartment, he said he knew Izaya did not visit because he did not at least inquire about Izaya's health.] Celty decided to neglect telling Shizuo that Izaya himself told her so. [Once I got my head back, we journeyed around Japan with Shooter. We didn't know that Izaya had been seriously injured.]

Celty's fingers hovered over the PDA. She did not know if she should tell him, but she decided that since Shinra was unlikely to answer any of Shizuo's questions, she might as well tell Shizuo what she knew. [A few days after we got back, Izaya's secretary called. She claimed responsibility for killing Izaya and told Shinra about the funeral arrangements.]

Shizuo's eyes widened. "Wait, Izaya's secretary really did kill him?"

[Yeah. According to Shinra, she said she didn't want to nurse him back to health, so she killed him and took his money.]

"So in the end, it was still my fault the flea died," Shizuo said as he slumped back into the chair.

[It wasn't!] Celty retorted. She knew the look in Shizuo's eyes. It was the same look that Shinra had after Izaya's funeral, when he started to drown himself in work. For some reason, Shinra felt responsible for Izaya's death. She did not want to see Shizuo end up like Shinra, wallowing in regret and lingering on 'what ifs'. 

"If I didn't injure him that badly, he wouldn't have needed to be nursed back to health. It is my fault, Celty."

[He picked the fight with you! He knew very well what he was doing!]

"Still, I didn't have to stoop to his level. I could have held back. I should have. If Vorona wasn't there, I would've definitely killed him there and then."

Celty did not know who this Vorona person was, but she was grateful. If Shizuo saw Izaya's life fade away in front of his eyes, the blow to his mental psyche would have been much worse. Hearing about a life that ended was much different than taking it away with your own hands, watching someone's eyes go dull and their limbs go limp. 

Shizuo sighed. "Maybe I should've killed him then. It would've saved him from the pain of a slow death."

This was bad. Shizuo always had a streak for self-loathing, but Izaya's death had brought it back tenfold. [Snap out of it, Shizuo!] Celty typed frantically in her PDA, but Shizuo interrupted her.

"Snap out of what? My strength? The fact that I'm a murderer? Damnit, I can't run from it! I can only live with the knowledge that I killed a man, even if he was a man I wanted dead for a long time." Shizuo buried his head in his hands, and it took a while for Celty to realize that Shizuo was on the verge of tears. "I always thought I wanted him dead, Celty. But now that he's really dead, I miss him."

"What?" In shock, Celty forgot to use her PDA to type her words and spoke through her head instead.

"I mean, I don't miss him! I feel like somthing's missing, you know? Not seeing his fingerprints over weird shit that happens, not chasing him out of Ikebukuro, it just feels like a part of me has been ripped out. I don't  _miss_ miss him, I just can't get used to a world without him," Shizuo's voice wavered as he said.

"Shit, Celty, I hate him. I hate that bastard. Why do I miss him? Why am I mourning his death? I don't understand, Celty. What's wrong with me?" Shizuo was outright crying now, tears hidden by his hands. Celty kept her PDA and opted to hug Shizuo from the back. She did that with Shinra a lot too, and it seemed to help.

For all the years that Celty lived, she had never seen a relationship like Izaya and Shizuo's. She had her memories back that spanned thousands of years, but their connection was still one of a kind. Their hatred bordered on obsession, provoking each other to the point of physical harm. Celty knew for certain that Shizuo actually tried to kill Izaya, and the only reason Izaya lived was because Shizuo did not want to harm Ikebukuro's residents. Izaya did not just stay out of Shizuo's way, he actively plotted ways to provoke Shizuo into coming after him.

If Celty did not know better, she would have assumed they were once lovers who had a bitter quarrel and a bad breakup.

There was no conceivable reason for their hatred. It just was. It was just like the grief that Shizuo was feeling now, that Celty could not remedy no matter how hard she tried. There was no explanation that Celty could give because she did not understand it herself.

So she held Shizuo in her arms as he cried and prayed that Shinra did not come back to see them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why didn't Celty use her head to talk to Shinra in chapter 2? No one, not even the author knows.


	8. Shiki; a subordinate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To Shiki, Izaya was nothing more than a pawn. He did not care who gave him information, just that information came to him in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This leads somewhere, I promise.  
> Maybe I should add 'slow build' to the tags lol

It had been two months since Shiki received word on Izaya's supposed death. Yet, here he was, receiving text messages from the very man people claimed was dead.

Izaya gave him a very long text message apologizing for not being in contact for a very long time and details on the organization known as Yodogiri Jinnai. He had reports their head, Kujiragi Kasane and how all the members of impersonating Yodogiri Jinnai were simultaneously hit by cars in various parts of Japan. It did not take a genius to see Izaya's involvment in that.

"Akabayashi, how sure are you that Orihara Izaya is dead?" Shiki asked. He shot Izaya a text telling him details of their next meeting, only to receive a very prompt reply.  _Sorry, Shiki-san. Not anytime soon._

Akabayashi sighed. "It was just rumors after all. Maybe he faked his own death?"

Shiki nodded, setting his phone on the table and sliding it to Akabayashi. "It is possible." In fact, when he received word of Izaya's death, it was the only possibility he considered.

Akabayashi skimmed through the message thread. "I heard he was gravely injured in a battle against Heiwajima Shizuo. Seeing as how Heiwajima is still walking around Ikebukuro, it is safe to assume that Izaya lost." He handed the phone to Shiki, who took it back with a sigh.

Shiki, too, was aware of this. There were many in the Awakusu-kai's lower ranks who witnessed their death match. If it was just one or two people, Shiki would have dismissed it. But when there were at least five people coming to him with photo and video evidence, it was difficult to ignore. Sloan's reports even stated that Izaya asked Shizuo to fight him one and one and posted guards to make sure that no one interferred with their fight.

But Shiki knew Izaya well. He was a coward. A coward he was, and a coward he would remain. There was no way a coward would fight a man like Heiwajima Shizuo without a definite way to win, or at least without a secure escape route. According to the photos, even if Izaya escaped alive, it would not be long before he died of blood loss. 

"It would explain why he refuses to meet," Shiki continued slowly. "But if he really wanted to fake his death, why would he contact us?"

"He can't risk cutting ties with the Awakusu-kai if he wants to continue work as an informant," Akabayashi pointed out.

But if Izaya was injured to the point where he could not speak, he would not have been able to continue working in the underground business. Dealing information and having a lot of connections did not automatically give you a shield that stopped knives from stabbing you in the gut, literally. If Izaya died, the game was automatically over. If he was really that injured, he would retire from information dealing immediately and assume a new identity.

There was also the reactions of Kishitani Shinra and Izaya's sisters to consider. Before, Shinra would take clients and house calls as he pleased, preferring to spend even the slightest bit more time with his headless girlfriend. But now Shinra practically lived in the underground clinic, only heading home for food, a change of clothes and some sleep. He even saved some people when they obviously did not have the money to pay him.

Izaya only allowed himself to be examined and treated by one doctor, and that was Kishitani Shinra. If Shinra's reactions were any indication, he failed to save Izaya and felt immense guilt for it. He drowned himself in work to kill the pain.

Izaya's sisters, a pair of twins, also showed similar signs of grief. According to the members who tailed them, the chattier one fell silent a lot, and the quiet one tried to cheer her sister up by talking more. They went to Izaya's apartment (Shiki did not know Izaya gave them a spare key), but whatever they hoped to find was not there. The louder one burst in tears and did not stop crying until they reached the edge of Ikebukuro.

Something did not match up. There was a piece of the puzzle missing, and it bugged Shiki to know that even when backed in a corner, Orihara Izaya still had some tricks up his sleeve. But there was nothing Shiki could do right now. He could only wait until Izaya came out of hiding or tripped up somewhere. 

No matter. As long as Izaya got the information the Awakusu-kai needed and stopped meddling in affairs that did not concern him, Shiki did not care.

"Should we ask our information dealer to run a job for us?" Shiki asked. Akabayashi only grinned.


	9. Aoba; a touchstone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He wanted to be the person people relied on, because their anchor was long gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything below is a spoiler. Mikado is a walking spoiler. This chapter is a spoiler. You have been warned.

Despite waking up from his coma months ago, Mikado still slipped back into an unresponsive state sometimes. His eyes would be open, but he would not respond to people calling his name or touching him. The doctors said it was normal, but that did not stop Aoba from worrying. 

Today was a good day. Mikado was already sitting up and looking out of the window when Aoba entered the room. His muscles had atrophied from not moving for a long time and he was still hooked up to a bunch of tubes, but otherwise he looked okay. "Hello, Aoba," Mikado greeted.

"Mikado-senpai," Aoba smiled warmly. He took a seat in the seat beside Mikado's bed.

Since Mikado slipped into a coma, Aoba had taken to visiting him twice a week. Everytime, Aoba would sneak a laptop into the room and let Mikado catch up on Ikebukuro's various rumors. Today was no different.

Aoba pulled a laptop from his bag and handed it to Mikado. Mikado powered it up and scrolled through the Dollars website, skimming through the hundreds of posts and deleting a few inappropriate ones. Aoba himself used his phone to contact the Blue Squares, updating himself on the still ongoing purges of Dollars.

"How's school?" Mikado asked, fingers still typing fast on the keyboard. Aoba put his phone down and faced Mikado.

"Still the same."

"Have you asked that girl out yet?" Mikado teased. 

Aoba felt blood rush to his face. "W-what makes you think I'll ask her out, Mikado-senpai?"

Mikado had a knowing smile on his face. "You talk about her a lot. And I heard you asked the Blue Squares not to touch her?"

Aoba bit the inside of his cheek. Even confined to a hospital bed, Mikado was still as sharp as ever. "I can't ask her out. Her brother died a few months ago and she's still grieving."

"I see," Mikado hummed. His hands were still actively tapping on the keyboard. He stopped for a while and looked at Aoba in the eye. "Kururi's full name wouldn't happen to be Orihara Kururi, would it?" Aoba could not stifle the flinch that ran throughout his entire body. but Mikado pretended not to notice and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Orihara Kururi, Orihara Izaya. Rumors of Izaya's death, a brother who died a few months back. It can't be a coincidence, can it?"

Aoba swallowed. "It isn't."

In that moment, Aoba could see traces of Mikado's dark side. That knowing smile turned into a smirk. His eyes shadowed over, and for a while Aoba saw contempt in them. "Are you just using her, or are you serious?"

To be honest, Aoba only helped Kururi with her bullying problem on a whim. He did not know that the twins were related to Orihara Izaya then, but when he did he was glad he helped Kururi. He only intended to use them as a source of information and as emotional hostage against Izaya, though it did not seem to be effective.

It backfired on Aoba. As he spent time with the twins and gradually got to know them, he fell deeper and deeper into his own trap. Now, he had actual feelings for Kururi.

"I'm serious about her," Aoba said solemnly. "Mikado-senpai, if you're planning to use her-"

Mikado held up a hand to silence him. "Aoba, don't jump to conclusions. Do you think I'm that sort of person?"

Yes, Aoba thought, but he did not voice his thoughts aloud. Ryugamine Mikado was a dangerous person, the true definition of a wolf in sheep's clothing. He needed to tread carefully to avoid putting Kururi in the line of fire like her brother did. Izaya, for all his shady dealings and emotional manipulation, prevented his sisters from crossing the line into the world of color gang wars and Russian assassins. Aoba would do the same.

Aoba's older brother was an asshole. Ran pushed him around and beat him up whenever he felt like it. Izaya may have been an asshole, but he was an asshole who cared for his sisters. Now that he was gone, Aoba felt the strange need to protect the two of them.

Aoba chuckled inwardly. Maybe Izaya's spirit possessed him and commanded him to take care of the twins. In a world with actual headless riders and demonic swords, it would not be far fetched.

"Mikado-senpai, I want to protect Kururi and her sister. Not for information or money or anything, but just because they deserve it," Aoba declared.

He knew he said the right thing, because Mikado's stony gaze melted into a heartwarming grin. "Great! I'm so relieved that you're not just using them." Aoba sighed in relief. At least Mikado was back to his usual self. "Speaking of which, there are rumors that Orihara Izaya is on the move even though he's six feet under. Can you check those rumors for me?"

Aoba knew exactly what Mikado was asking for, but he needed to be sure. "Going by Kururi and Mairu's behaviors, they are definitely grieving for their brother. They really believe he's dead."

Mikado held his silence for a while. "What if someone impersonated Izaya?"

Aoba perked up. He had not considered that possibility."You mean like in the chatroom that day?" The day that Kanra logged in and announced that the original Kanra, Orihara Izaya, was dead, was the day the rumors spread like wildfire. There were a few rumors floating around before that, but after the chatroom incident everyone instantly knew that Orihara Izaya had died.

Mikado nodded. "It could be someone who has access to his information. Someone on the inside."

"I'll look into it," Aoba promised. Knowing that someone was pretending to be Izaya would break the twins' heart. Aoba would make sure to uncover the truth and make the imposter pay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Major spoilers for chapter 13.
> 
> I assume that Mikado woke up from his coma in two or three weeks because according to Google, that's the average length of time for someone to be in a coma (which was why he could speak in the chatroom). But since he also managed to fuck up a year of studies, I'm assuming that the recovery process was slow.


	10. Chatroom; no. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I pulled the book title out of my ass.

December 2012, 3 months after Izaya's disappearance

[Saika has logged in.]

[Kyo has logged in.]

[San has logged in.]

[Gaki has logged in.]

[Sharo has logged in.]

Gaki: Good morning everyone!

Sharo: Good morning!

San: Hi.

[Pure Water 100% has logged in.]

Saika: Hello...

Pure Water 100%: Yo!

[Chrome has logged in.]

Kyo: Hello everyone. It is a beautiful Sunday morning. What do you do on your Sundays? I usually have to force San to do her overdue homework. Even though she had all Saturday to do it, she leaves it to the last minute and copies mine.

Gaki: Ah, Chrome! Long time no see.

Chrome: Sorry about that everyone.

Sharo: Chrome!

Chrome: Sorry for not logging in at all, guys.

Pure Water 100%: What happened? 

Kyo: It has been three months since you last logged in. A quarter of a year. That is indeed a very long time. Did your computer break? Or did you encounter some personal problems?

Chrome: Something like that.

Chrome: I got into a car accident.

San: Oh...

Saika: Are you okay?

Chrome: I'm paralyzed from waist down now.

Chrome: It's hard coping.

Sharo: Shit, you alright?

Chrome: I only had a few friends before the accident. We were all there when the car crashed.

Chrome: I was the only one who survived.

Chrome: I'm sorry for ruining the mood. I just...

Gaki: Hey, it's okay. 

Pure Water 100%: Yeah, we're all friends right? No need to hold back.

Saika: What about family?

Chrome: My parents aren't around anymore, and I don't have any siblings.

Sharo: Wait, so you're alone now?

Chrome: Yeah.

Kyo: Are you living in Ikebukuro? We could go visit you. It is good to have people around you. Laughter is the best medicine, they say.

Chrome: Sorry, I don't live in Ikebukuro. I'm currently staying in an apartment in Isesaki. 

Gaki: Do you mind us visiting?

Chrome: I do. I'm sorry.

Chrome: Not that I don't trust you guys.

Chrome: It's just... I don't want anyone seeing me like that.

San: It's okay.

Pure Water 100%: Yeah, at least you're safe. 

Saika: You can talk to us anytime.

Chrome: Thanks guys.

Chrome: I'm feeling a little tired, so I'll log out now.

Saika: Bye.

Sharo: See you!

[Chrome has logged out.]

[Setton has logged in.]

Setton: Whew, I just got back from a job!

Setton: How's everyone?

Kyo: We need to do something for Chrome. He is obviously going through a very tough time and we need to be there to support him.

Kyo: I want to help, but I'm not sure how. Never before have I felt so helpless. Then again, there is a first for everything.

Setton: I just read the chat logs.

Setton: There's not much we can do, just give Chrome some moral support.

Sharo: Chrome will spend a lot of time online since he can't move much.

Gaki: So we just have to spend a little extra time on the chat?

Pure Water 100%: I can do that.

San: Same.

Saika: I will.

Kyo: I will too. It may not be our responsibility, but as his friends we should at least show him that we care. Since we are unable to meet him face to face, this is the least we can do.

Kyo: But I will have to log out now. San needs to do her homework.

San: [This chat has been censored due to inappropriate content.]

San: Ow. I got pinched.

[Kyo has logged out.]

[San has logged out.]

Pure Water 100%: Ah! Speaking of homework, I totally forgot about this one assignment!

Pure Water 100%: Gotta go, bye!

[Pure Water 100% has logged out.]

Saika: Ah, I need to study too...

Saika: Bye.

[Saika has logged out.]

Gaki: Haha! Ah, the fleeting days of youth.

Sharo: This makes me feel old.

Setton: If only you two knew my age.

Sharo: What, you some kind of old hag?

Setton: ... never mind.

* * *

May 2013, 8 months after Izaya's disappearance 

[Chrome has logged in.]

Chrome: Is anyone here?

[Bakyura has logged in.]

Bakyura: Yo!

[Saki has logged in.]

Saki: Hello!

Chrome: Actually, I need your advice.

Bakyura: Mm?

Chrome: I wrote a book that's going to be published soon.

Saki: That's great!

Chrome: But I don't want to use my real name to author the book. What should my alias be?

Bakyura: Your current alias, of course!

Bakyura: Chrome!

Saki: That's right! That way, we know which book you wrote.

Bakyura: I don't like reading, but I'll buy your book and support you!

Chrome: Thanks guys.

Chrome: It's called Northern Snow.

Saki: What's it about?

Chrome: Well, you'll just have to buy the book and find out, right?

* * *

June 2012, 9 months after Izaya's disappearance

[Chrome has logged in.]

[Saika has logged in.]

Chrome: Hello!

Saika: Hello...

Saika: I read your book.

Chrome: How was it?

Saika: Is there a sequel?

Chrome: Ahaha, how did you know?

Saika: The cliffhanger.

[Tanaka Taro has logged in.]

Tanaka Taro: Chrome-san! I bought your book the moment school let out.

Tanaka Taro: It was awesome!

Chrome: Thanks.

Chrome: Haha, now I feel motivated to write.

Saika: You must write more.

Saika: You must.

[Kyo has logged in.]

[San has logged in.]

Kyo: Chrome, I tried to buy your book, but it was sold out in every single one of Ikebukuro's bookstores. I was surprised since it was only yesterday that the book came out.

San: Tell us.

Chrome: The story? But then you'd be spoiled.

Tanaka Taro: Haha, that's true.

Tanaka Taro: Can you at least tell us what happens after Ichika dies?

San: [This chat has been censored due to inappropriate content.]

Kyo: Tanaka Taro-san, we have not read Northern Snow yet. You have successfully spoiled the story for us.

San: [This chat has been censored due to inappropriate content.]

Tanaka Taro: Ah, I'm sorry. 

Saika: Tell us.

San: [This chat has been censored due to inappropriate content.]

San: Ow. I got pinched.

* * *

July 2013, 10 months after Izaya's disappearance

[Chrome has logged in.]

[Gaki has logged in.]

Chrome: Hello!

Gaki: Ah, Chrome. I found the time to read your book.

Gaki: It is very intriguing. How did you know the inner hierachy of the yakuza?

Chrome: Google?

Gaki: I see. 

Chrome: Why?

Gaki: Nothing. Just that everything is very well written.

[Sharo has logged in.]

Sharo: Hey!

Sharo: I don't usually read books, but damn.

Sharo: Those fighting techniques were spot on!

Chrome: Thanks!

Chrome: I actually did a lot of research on martial arts styles, haha.

Gaki: Impressive. 

Sharo: Fighting with knives ain't a martial art.

Chrome: Everything can be found on the internet.

Gaki: That's true.

Sharo: Man, I can see the effort put in.

Sharo: My sister is shrieking for the sequel.

Sharo: Wanna share?

Chrome: Sorry, nope.

Gaki: What a shame.

Sharo: I AM EIJIROU'S SISTER

Sharo: MY NAME IS SHARAKU MIKAGE

Sharo: TELL ME DAMNIT

Sharo: [This chat has been censored due to inappropriate content.]

[Sharo has been disconnected.]

Gaki: Haha, I can only imagine what's going on on the other side.

Chrome: Sharaku... that's a family of martial artists!

Chrome: They run a dojo in Ikebukuro.

Gaki: You are very well informed.

Chrome: He said my techniques were spot on!

Chrome: Hehehe. I got complimented by a martial artist.

Gaki: Sorry, but my break's over. I'll come back later.

Chrome: Bye!

[Gaki has logged out.]

* * *

March 2014, 17 months after Izaya's disappearance

[Setton has logged in.]

[Chrome has logged in.]

Setton: Good morning!

Chrome: Ah, for once I'm not the first online.

Setton: Says the man who logs on at 6 am sharp daily.

Chrome: Haha, what can I say.

Setton: My fiancé really loves your books.

Chrome: Really?

Setton: He woke me up to queue at the bookstore.

Setton: At 5 am. 

Chrome: Haha, I'm glad that he likes it.

Setton: We're still here.

Setton: The bookstore doesn't open for two hours.

Setton: The worst part is, we're not the first here.

Chrome: No?

Setton: Some people have been here overnight.

Chrome: I didn't know my books were that popular...

Setton: Just curious, but how much money are you getting?

Chrome: Not much. Five hundred thousand yen a month?

Setton: ...

Chrome: It used to be eight hundred thousand yen, but sales have slowed down considerably.

Setton: Can we get your autograph?

Setton: Please...?

Setton: Sorry, that was my fiancé.

Setton: You need to come to Ikebukuro!

Chrome: I don't mind.

Setton: Eh?

Chrome: I don't mind travelling to Ikebukuro to meet everyone.

Setton: That's good!

[Setton has logged off.]

Chrome: Huh?

* * *

April 2014, 18 months after Izaya's disappearance

[Chrome has logged in.]

[Setton has logged in.]

Setton: Everyone should be logging in soon.

[Saika has logged in.]

Saika: Hello.

[Bakyura has logged in.]

Bakyura: Yo!

[Saki has logged in.]

Saki: Hi!

[Kyo has logged in.]

[San has logged in.]

Kyo: To what do we owe this planned online gathering? I am getting jumpy at missing my favorite TV show. Also, San needs to do her homework.

[Tanaka Taro has logged in.]

[Pure Water 100% has logged in.]

Tanaka Taro: Haha, I have a lot of homework to catch up on.

Pure Water 100%: But it's the start of the school year!

[Gaki has logged in.]

[Sharo has logged in.]

Sharo: This talk about homework makes me feel old.

Gaki: I feel you.

Sharo: CHROME

Chrome: Hello, Mikage-san.

Sharo: YOU REMEMBERED ME

Setton: Ahem. Attention please. 

Setton: Golden week is coming soon. Want to come over for hotpot?

Bakyura: Yeah!

Sharo: I WANNA COME

Tanaka Taro: I don't mind!

Gaki: I'll apply for leave from my company.

Sharo: I'm my own boss, I give myself leave!

Saika: Same...

Pure Water 100%: Sure, why not?

Kyo: What about Chrome? He lives in Isesaki, doesn't he? Not to mention that moving around in a wheelchair is extremely difficult. Unless you plan to take a taxi all the way to Ikebukuro?

San: Expensive. 

Chrome: I've been leaving the apartment on my own to buy groceries and attend rehab.

Chrome: But I've never tried taking the train since the accident...

Saki: I'm not in Ikebukuro at the moment.

Bakyura: Neither am I. We can drop by Isesaki to escort you, Chrome.

Saki: It's on the way.

Chrome: Really? I'd appreciate that.

Chrome: Don't kidnap and sell me to the yakuza, haha!

Gaki: Haha, you're more entertaining to the yakuza a free man.

Chrome: Gaki-san, please don't joke about that.

Pure Water 100%: Where do you live, Setton-san?

Setton: PM me your emails. I'll email you the address.

[Private mode activated.]

Chrome: mushiki_kuro@docomo.ne.jp

Setton: Is that your name? Mushiki Kuro?

Chrome: Yeah. Kuro and Mushiki. Kuromu. Chrome.

Chrome: But call me Kuro in real life, okay?

Setton: Got it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Golden week is an extremely long holiday in Japan. It is multiple holidays that span almost an entire week.


	11. Kida; superior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No matter what he did, Orihara Izaya was always one step in front of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mushiki Kuro is written in Japanese as 無色 黒 which is translated as 'colorless' and 'black'. Ironic, I know, but I wanted it to have a relation to his Chrome handle (take the first part 'mu' and his first name 'kuro' and put it together, it becomes 'kuromu' which is how Chrome is written in Japanese). There's also some symbolism in relation to the song Unravel, in which the singer talks about being transparent (colorless), and the fact that 黒 'kuro' is another word for 'a guilty person'.
> 
> If you haven't figured out who Kuro is, tell me. I'll be busy rewriting every single chapter.

It had been close to two years since Izaya's supposed death. Yet, Kida and Saki still found themselves working for Orihara Izaya.

Neither of them dared to tell anyone about Izaya's survival. They told their families and friends that they found work as freelance photograhers, and in a way they were. The only difference was that instead of taking artistic photos, Kida and Saki took photos for blackmail.

They always sent their photos via email. Since Izaya's 'death', they had not met the man once. Saki theorized that Izaya was disfigured by someone and was too prideful to admit his loss. Kida did not care. As long as he got enough money wired to his bank account to survive, he was happy.

Today, however, they took a break from work. For some reason, Izaya gave them a break before they asked for it, already knowing about the chatroom hotpot. Kida assumed that Izaya had bugged their electronic devices and monitored their communications. It was something that Izaya would do.

Kida and Saki were supposed to meet one of their chatroom friends, Chrome, at the Isesaki Station. Chrome, or Mushiki Kuro as he was called in real life, was a very successful writer. His book 'Northern Snow' and its sequel 'Western Wind' were bestsellers in the Japanese market, renowned for its realistic portrayal of the underground societies of Japan. Kuro himself was translating the books into English to be sold overseas. 

However, one of Kuro's major flaws was that he was not used to being out in public. Being a shut-in who only ventured out for food or medical checkups, Kuro had not taken public transport since the accident that left him paralyzed waist down. That was the reason they were meeting Kuro at Isesaki Station, to help him get to Ikebukuro safely.

They alighted and loitered around, checking their phones for any emails. There was one from Orihara Izaya, asking them to uncover the potential plot of Southern Rain. Kida deleted it immediately.

Right after he deleted it, Kida's phone rang.  _Mushiki Kuro_ , it read. Kida picked up the call.

"Yo," Kida greeted. "Where are you?"

"Bakyura-san?" Kuro sounded a little panicked. "I'm outside the station. There are too many people, there's no way I can get in-"

"Then we'll come find you!" Kida chirped. He looked and Saki and they nodded together. "Relax, it's Golden Week. It's bound to be more crowded than usual." With that, Kida ended the call.

They found Kuro easily. Despite Kuro's words, it was not that packed, and a man in a wheelchair was very easy to spot. 

"Kuro-san!" Kida called. Kuro looked around frantically, trying to find the source of Kida's voice.

Saki chuckled. "Kuro-san," she said, running up to the man. "My name is Mikajima Saki. Nice to meet you."

Kida had been with his girlfriend for many years now. He knew her every quirk, what each twitch of her muscle meant. Just by looking at her, Kida knew something about Mushiki Kuro was unsettling her. He took a good look at Kuro's face and understoof immediately.

Kuro looked exactly like Orihara Izaya. 

Sure, Kuro's hair was parted differently and tied back into a small ponytail, but his features were exactly the same. The color of his eyes, the shape of his nose, the curve of his lips, they all resembled Izaya. Even their taste in clothes was the same, preferring simple, black long sleeved shirts to button ups and fancy vests.

Yet, there was something about Kuro that was vastly different from Izaya. While Izaya oozed confidence, the aura Kuro gave off was a little awkward and shy. "Bakyura-san?" Kuro tilted his head a little. His hands fisted the black blanket that covered his legs, a clear sign of his nervousness.

That convinced Kida that the man in front of him was not Orihara Izaya. There was no way that prideful man would allow himself to show weakness in front of anyone, let alone one of his pawns. "Ah, sorry," Kida apologized profusely. "I'm Kida Masaomi."

"I'm sure you know," Kuro smiled, "but I'm Mushiki Kuro. Nice to meet you, Kida-kun, Mikajima-san."


	12. Walker; firestorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Walker answered only to Kadota and no one else.

Erika and Walker were seen as a package deal. If you wanted to talk to one, you had to deal with the other.

Walker, however, knew that was far from the truth. Unlike him, Erika had friends outside the van crew. She had people to cosplay with, talk about their fujoshi weirdness together, other friends who were not mutual friends with Walker.

It left a bitter taste in his mouth. They had always been together, Erika and Walker, Walker and Erika. But now, Erika was graduating from his existence. She did not need him to validate her existence anymore, and as each day passed he felt as if she was drifting away from him.

But it was alright. Walker had Kadota now. Kadota asked him to get a job, and so he did. Kadota asked him to make friends with people who were not Erika, and so he tried. Kadota asked him to light a van full of people on flames, and he did it with a smile. Walker's life was Kadota's, and he would follow the man to the ends of the earth to watch the world burn in flames.

Today, however, was not such an exciting day. While Celty's mysterious bike could shapeshift into a wagon, Celty was afraid that its reduced speed would cause some frozen goods to spoil. So she called in a favor from Togusa and had the entire gang moving food into her house. The last box of food had been shipped into the kitchen, where a girl with glasses and huge boobs was hastily cooking.

[Thanks, everyone.] Celty typed. [I really appreciate it.]

"Are you hosting a party or something?" Kadota asked.

Celty nodded. Or, at least, her helmet did. [Wanna join? The more the merrier.]

"Sorry, but I gotta do some repairs for some guy. Need to earn my keep," Kadota sighed. "You three enjoy yourselves."

Walker felt his body seize up. Kadota had never left the three of them alone. Rather, Walker was not trusted alone. Erika was fine, she somehow had her homicidal tendencies suppressed, but Walker was a different matter. A man who always had a Molotov cocktail on hand should never leave Kadota's sight.

Just like when Kadota slipped into a coma, Walker was the one running around threatening the Yellow Scarves and hurling flames at Izumii. Not Erika, who never left Kadota's side at the hospital, or Togusa, who stayed out of everything entirely. Walker was the most dangerous, the most volatile specimen, the only one of them who had actual blood on his hands.

But here Kadota was, letting Walker run amock. Did Kadota not know that Walker could not be trusted? Or, after all these years of relative peace, did Kadota not need him anymore?

[I have an online friend who's coming. He's the author of Northern Snow.]

Erika cooed. "The famous but mysterious Chrome? How did you ever get into contact with him?"

Celty seemed to think for a while, then she typed her reply. [Coincidence?]

Kadota's eyes widened. "For real? Shit, maybe I should cancel that appointment and get an autograph or something."

"No wonder you're cooking so much," Togusa murmured, eyeing the boxes of food. "Probably don't wanna disappoint the guy or something."

The appearance of a famous novelist only made Walker more bitter. Once, Walker wrote a light novel and tried to publish it. The woman at the counter read his draft and laughed at it, telling him that trash like that was not worthy of being published. As much as he liked Chrome's books, meeting the man would only serve as a painful reminder that he did not belong in normal society.

"Sorry, but I got a date with Asuna-san!" Walker waved his hand at Celty. Not bothering to process everyone else's reactions, Walker rushed out of the front door, running down the stairs and onto the street without caring where he went.

He knew it was only a matter of time before Kadota deemed him useless, he just never faced the facts. Togusa was a completely normal person apart from the fact that he was friends with Erika and Walker. And Erika? She was reintergrating into society perfectly. She was leaving him behind, just like how Kadota was leaving him.

Eventually, Walker ran out of breath. He fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath and he sucked in air for his deprived lungs. People on the streets of Ikebukuro looked at him funny, but he did not care. Why did they stare? Did they know he was a freak, a criminal, a murderer? Did they immediately sense danger from him like how prey ran from predators?

"IZAAAAAAAYYYYAAAAAAAA!" Screams were heard in the distance, and Walker thought he saw a person flying.

Walker chuckled to himself. How could he have forgotten? When compared to Heiwajima Shizuo, no one could compare. He was not a freak. He was not that dangerous, not when compared to a man who could uproot signposts and hurl vending machines with his bare hands. Just because Shizuo reined in his temper did not make him less of a monster.

(Then again, he could say the same for himself.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my opinion, Izaya/Mikado/Aoba isn't the most disturbing character in the series. Walker is.
> 
> Think about it. He is the only person who we ever see kill a person on screen (he tossed a Molotov cocktail into a van. I doubt everyone survived). One may argue that people like Aoba or Ran are a bit more fucked up, but Aoba still has some sense of humanity with the Orihara twins, and Ran is... obvious. You know he's a bad guy, you know he's dangerous.
> 
> Unlike Ran, Walker blends in with everyone. He manages to smile and chat about anime and manga. He, unlike Izaya, manages to hold a semi-normal conversation with strangers. But you also know from the torture scene (it's worse in the novels and manga than the anime) and how he cheerily tosses flames around (more evident in the second/third season of the anime) that there's something not right with Walker. You just don't know what.
> 
> I guess this is a loose character interpretation, moulded to suit my needs.
> 
> (Ergh, just realized all of the above could apply to Mikado. But at least we know what drives Mikado. Walker's just a big question mark.)


	13. Shizuo; a monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The weight of being a monster crashes down on him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I could hide myself in fanfiction, away from the horrying world known as RL, I would be so happy.

Shizuo did not like breaking a routine. He was supposed to wake up at 8 am, shower, change and eat breakfast by 9.30 am and leave the house by 9.45 am. Then, he would meet Tom and they would make their rounds until lunch. Tom and Shizuo usually grabbed some fast food for about an hour, then they left for the remaining clients. If there were not many clients, they ended by 4 pm. If not, the day could drag till 10 pm. If they ended early, Shizuo would clean the house and do the laundry, maybe buy some groceries and cook himself a decent meal. If they ended late, he would make do with packet ramen.

But since Tom went overseas and would remain there for a week, that meant Shizuo had no work. He had free time.

What did one do with free time? Shizuo knew he smoked a lot. But smoking was bad and Celty had tried to convince him time and again to stop smoking. For Celty's sake, he tried to regulate the amount of cigarettes he smoked. Three a day was not too bad, right?

He did not have any friends apart from Shinra, Celty, Tom, Vorona and Kadota. He texted Celty and asked if she could hang out, but she was busy entertaining guests from out of town or something. She invited him over, but Shizuo knew he was just going to be awkward in a room full of strangers, and they were going to be on edge with the monster of Ikebukuro in the room.  Shinra always had patients to treat despite the decrease in criminal activity. Vorona went back to Russa and never called back. Kadota would be with his usual group of friends, and Shizuo always felt like an intruder when he went out with them.

He hated free time because his mind would start to wander. It would be filled with thoughts of a black-haired, crimson-eyed flea who he was never able to catch. It reminded him that despite what Shizuo thought, he was just a man. Shizuo never caught him because he refused to let himself be caught. When Iza-

No. Shizuo shook his head to clear his thoughts. Don't think about it. Don't think about him.

He picked up a prescription bottle and looked at it with disgust. If Shinra knew he had started throwing the pills out five months ago, he would be a dead man. 

With nothing to do, Shizuo threw on his usual bartender outfit and got out of his apartment. It was already noon, past the time for lunch, but Shizuo only just realized he had not eaten anything since last night. Along the way, he placed a cigarette to his lips and lighted it. Smoking always calmed him down when he lost control of his anger. It was a constant in his life, along with his brother and his monstrous strength.

Shizuo made for his usual cafe, planning to order a milkshake and some sweets. Without him wrecking Ikebukuro, he did not owe the city anything and had a bit of extra cash on hand to indulge himself.

That, and that louse somehow paid off all of Shizuo's debt to Ikebukuro before his death. 

The flea was smart, disgustingly so. By paying off Shizuo's debt, he left Shizuo indebted to him with no way to repay him. It was a way to make sure he remembered Izaya for the rest of his life.

But now Shizuo knew he was thinking too much. He could smell the stench of flea on the wind, getting closer to him with every passing second. The flea - no, Izaya - was nearby, and it would only take a few seconds to turn around the corner to see him.

Shizuo knew he should have taken those antidepressants Shinra prescribed him to ward off all these hallucinations. Orihara Izaya was dead by Shizuo's own hands. There was no way he could be alive.

But when Shizuo turned around the corner, he could not believe his eyes. Kida Masaomi, the leader of the Yellow Scarves was back in Ikebukuro. By his side was a girl Shizuo did not recognize, but what startled him was the person in the wheelchair.

No doubt, that was Orihara Izaya. He got a different hairstyle, but that was not enough to disguise the smell of flea. That bastard did not even bother changing his style of clothes since they last met. He was still dressed in a black, long sleeved tee and simple pants, albeit without his signature fur coat. Growling, Shizuo stomped over to the trio. Kida took a look at Shizuo's face and paled. 

"Izaya-kun," Shizuo grinned maniacally. "Didn't I tell you to stay out of Ikebukuro?"

"Shizuo-san," Kida stammered. "This isn't what it looks like." His girlfriend trailed silently behind Izaya to grab the handles of the wheelchair, ready to start pushing the moment Shizuo let them pass.

"Isn't what it looks like? You're one of Izaya's pawns. This is exactly what it looks like," Shizuo growled out. 

Izaya turned back to touch the hand of the girl, prompting her to let go. He wheeled himself forward - was he really not capable of walking? - and faced Shizuo head on. "Um, I think you've mistakened me for someone else. My name is Mushiki Kuro," he explained. Even as he said that, Shizuo could smell genuine fear radiating off the wheelchair bound man.

But Shizuo was not in a reasonable mood today. One and a half years of repressed emotions rose to the surface, and Shizuo snapped.

"IZAAAAAAAYYYYAAAAAAAA!" he bellowed. He grabbed the frightened man by the collar and hurled him a distance away. A girl behind him screamed, but he paid it no mind. Izaya slammed into the wall and slid down, clutching the back of his head with one hand and defending himself with the other.

What struck Shizuo the most was when Izaya did not make a move to grab his switchblade or even try to run away. He just sat there, trembling, as Shizuo stalked closer and closer. Was the flea really paralyzed? Did he really mistaken this innocent man for someone else? Shizuo needed to get a closer look.

Then something splashed the back of his vest. Kerosene, from the stench of it.

"Yo, Shizuo-san!" As expected, it was that otaku from Kadota's gang. He was the only one who was not Izaya or friends with Shizuo and dared to stop him in his rages. "Beating up random passersby? That's not right."

Shizuo, for all his supernatural strength, had to be careful of this man. He gave off the same stench as that flea, only subtler and with a hint of repentance. But Shizuo was too far gone, lost in one of his trademark rages. "Who are you to decide what's right and wrong, huh?" Shizuo challenged. 

"If I decided right and wrong, you'd be no more than a pile of ashes right now." Walker tilted the spray mockingly, the same way Izaya used to cock his head when Shizuo could not get close enough to catch him. "I'm only doing this because Kadota-san won't agree with what you're doing. He'd be sad. I don't want him to be sad, y'know?"

Taking advantage of the distraction, Kida and his girlfriend ran past Shizuo to check on Izaya. "Kuro-san! Are you okay?" Kida asked anxiously. 

All they heard was a small whimper of agony.

It was that sound that snapped Shizuo out of his rage. That voice sounded a lot like Izaya's during their last battle, when he beat the crap out of the flea and threw him a few meters away, making him hiss in pain. The sounds were so similar that it brought Shizuo back to the battlefield, where a bloodied, broken Izaya had to have his wounds closed by Celty's shadows...

 _(Monster,_ Izaya whispered.)

Before Shizuo knew it, he had scooped 'Izaya' up into a bridal carry. 'Izaya' tensed up, but allowed the contact. Or maybe it was because he had no choice but to allow it, since he was apparenly reliant on a wheelchair to move around.

"Hey," Shizuo started. "I'm gonna bring you to Shinra's, then we're gonna talk about where you've been these few years."

"I don't know what's wrong with that brain of yours," 'Izaya' snapped. "Or maybe you don't have one? I'm not this Izaya guy." He tried to jab the side of Shizuo's neck, but Shizuo's muscles were too hard for it to have an effect. "Get it into your thick skull, dumb brute. My name is Mu-shi-ki Ku-ro." At the last syllable, Kuro slammed his elbow in the soft flesh between Shizuo's chin and neck.

Shizuo was mildly impressed. That actually stung a bit. If he had a normal body, that would have definitely knocked him out.

"Shizuo-san, please let him down!" The girl pleaded. 

"I'm just taking him to Shinra's," Shizuo grunted. "I'm not going to kill him." He already had flea blood on his hands, which was more than enough for a lifetime. Shizuo did not want another person to die by his strength, to have their ribs collapsed and lungs punctured until they could no longer breathe. Or was it a head wound that did Izaya in? No, the louse was still talking when Celty patched him up. Maybe Izaya just lost the will to live and faded away.

"Then you don't mind us coming with you?" Kida demanded.

"The wheelchair's wrecked," Walker pointed out. "May as well use Shizuo-san as free muscle, hmm? Oh, but if you're going to Shinra's I'll pass." He tucked the spray can into his hoodie pocket, waving a goodbye at them.

Shizuo look down at the thin man in his arms. Somewhere between hitting Shizuo and now, he had passed out and Shizuo did not even notice. He brushed the raven locks away from his forehead, noting the red liquid that coated his fingertips when he pulled away. Strange, even with blood oozing from his forehead the man looked still looked so peaceful. In fact, he looked like he was just sleeping. "We need to get to Shinra's fast," Shizuo declared.

He tore off his sleeve and used it to wrap the man - Kuro's - head in a makeshift bandage. Kasuka would understand why he did it. From being unable to control his anger and strength to ripping his clothes to stem the bleeding. Besides, he told himself he needed a new wardrobe, an identity away from his time as the monster of Ikebukuro. Tearing up the suits only served as motivation to do so.

"That's nice and all," Kida rolled his eyes. "But who the hell is Shinra and how do we get to him?"

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kida (and, by extension, Saki) never meets Shinra in canon. Surprising.


	14. Kuro; a name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." -Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2).

Kuro did not know exactly when he passed out, but he had a vague awareness of the time when he woke up. The random sleep attacks trained him to tell the time without opening his eyes. Currently, it was about three in the afternoon, approaching four soon.

"...just a mild concussion."

What happened? Did he fall asleep in front of the computer again? The sleep attacks waned themselves off by the end of the first year, but it still happened once every few weeks. If Haruto and Himari found out he did not sleep in his bed again, he would be in deep shit.

"...looks just like..."

But Kuro was sure he was currently lying on a bed. The softness of it, the warmth from being covered with a blanket, a pillow supporting his head. He tried opening his eyes, but the light hurt his head. Kuro groaned and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Shizuo, please leave. I think he's awake."

Too loud. Whoever was talking was too loud. Kuro tried to cover his ears, but his arms refused to respond to him. Instead, his right arm flopped to cover his eyes.

"Yup, he's definitely awake. Can you hear me, Mushiki-kun?" Kuro grunted softly. There was a swishing sound and the room got darker exponentially. "Is this better?" Kuro nodded slowly, unable to trust his mouth to form words.

Someone pulled his arm away from his eyes. "I need you to open your eyes, okay? The curtains are drawn, so it shouldn't be too bright."

As much as Kuro hated going to the doctor's, he knew this one meant well. It was slowly coming back to him, that monstrous man who threw him like a sack of potatoes, how he was barely affected by a jab to the chin and how he called someone else's name as he stalked towards Kuro. Or did that come before everything else?

"Mushiki-kun? Don't fall asleep now."

With more willpower than should have been required, Kuro opened his eyes. It took a while for his vision to come into focus, but when it did he did not recognize the two figures looming over him. "Ah, you're awake!" The bespectacled man beamed. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"You aren't holding up any fingers," Kuro deadpanned. Did all doctors think their patients were idiots? He was concussed, not stupid.

"Vision, check. Cognitive ability, check. Do you remember what happened?"

Kuro struggled. "There was- I met up with two people. They brought me... somewhere? And I- ugh!" A sudden pain shot his head. He knew he was attacked by some blonde brute in a bartender suit (heh, it rhymed), but other details were hazy.

His attention turned to woman clad in black, who for some reason was still wearing her helmet. Instead of speaking, she typed with her PDA. [Don't push yourself. Take it slow.]

"Who are you people?" Kuro asked. The throbbing ache in his head was already subsiding.

[Aha, my name is Celty Sturluson. Though you probably know me as Setton.]

"Setton-san?" Kuro tried to sit up, but he was pushed down by both the doctor and Celty.

"Nuh uh, no touching my beloved," the doctor tutted. Celty pinched his cheek in retaliation. "Ow, ow, I'm sorry! Anyway, I'm Kishitani Shinra. I'm a doctor and Celty's one and only fiancé. Technically, I'm in the chatroom as Indoor Scholar, but I don't use the chat much nowadays."

Kuro believed them. He knew for a fact that they were not lying. "What about those people?" Kuro asked. "The ones outside the room."

Kishitani looked vaguely impressed. "You know they're there?"

Kuro nodded. "I can hear them. Everything's kinda loud." Kuro was reluctant to tell the doctor that even without the side effects of a concussion, he could have probably told. From the number of footsteps, there were at least three people. One exited the room as he was coming out of his slumber, so maybe four? If only the door was open. Kuro would be able to tell better by their breathing patterns. "Kishitani-sensei-"

"Shinra, please."

"Shinra-sensei-"

" _Shinra._ "

"Shinra-san, do you know who attacked me?"

Shinra started to say something, but Celty elbowed and shoved him away. [That would be Heiwajima Shizuo. He's... not usually like that.]

"Yeah, sure. When he attacked me unprovoked." Kuro stifled a disbelieving snort. "So he doesn't throw people around on a regular basis?"

"Not as much as he used to, and usually not unprovoked," Shinra reasoned. "He thought you were someone else."

Of course. It always came back to Orihara Izaya. Kuro saw it on Kida and Mikajima's faces when they first met him. He caught a glimpse of the email they sent to someone, telling him of Kuro's resemblance to a certain red-eyed informant. He saw it in Shizuo's maniac vision when he was grabbed by the collar and flung off his wheelchair. He saw it in the mirror everyday.

When Kuro woke up in the hospital a little more than a year ago, he remembered nothing. Not his name, not why he was mummified in bandages with tubes poking out of various parts of his body, and certainly not the woman who sat at his bedside, waiting for him to regain consciousness.

The only visitor he had after the supposed accident was Yagiri Namie. She told him about the car accident, how he lost all his friends in it, blah blah blah. But from the way she shifted in her seat and her eyes kept flickering to the bandages on his head, Kuro knew there was something more to the story. He stole Yagiri's data chip and hid it in his mouth, which an oxygen mask covered. No one suspected a heavily injured, bedridden man of theft.

It took a month, maybe two for Yagiri to finally leave and the hospital to allow him access to electronic devices to stave off his boredom. He loaded the chip and cracked it, giving him access to a chatroom. There were two passwords in there, one was for the admin account Kanra and the other for a normal account Chrome. To avoid suspicion, Kuro chose the normal account. There were actual people chatting in there, so he just fed them the bullshit story Yagiri told him to get an excuse to log out.

By then, Kuro was having suspicions about his own identity. There was no way a normal person would be able to crack data files at all, let alone at the speed he was doing so. He quickly unlocked all the other files and discovered that it held the full profiles of people in the chatroom. Name, date of birth, height and weight, place of residence, phone numbers, occupation and many more. Pages and pages of information on these people, all stored in that small data chip. One person was an executive of the yakuza, another two were the head of color gangs. Some high school girl apparently could summon a demon sword who controlled people's minds. There was even a headless fairy among the profiles.

But there were two profiles that were not complete. Both had only one name in the profile. No additional information, no photos, just that one name sitting in the profiles of Kanra and Chrome.

Orihara Izaya.

From there, it was only a matter of searching the internet. Orihara Izaya was a well known and powerful information broker who apparently died three months before. An image search pulled up a picture of Orihara Izaya, and though Kuro did not get many chances to look in the mirror, he noticed that he looked exactly like the dead man.

It fell into place. His ability to read people, his skill at computers, his ability for memorization. The fact that he somehow sustained a gunshot wound in a car accident. If one took into consideration time spent on preparation to go into hiding, the time between Orihara Izaya's disappearance and the start of his memories coincided perfectly.

"Hello, Mushiki-kun? Are you alright?" Shinra waved in front of Kuro's face. Kuro started a little. He did it again, getting lost in his thoughts. Silently, he chided himself. This was not the comfortable first floor apartment he called home. He was among strangers, he could not afford to let his guard down. He could not afford to let his real weaknesses show, or people would pounce on him the moment they found out.

"I'm fine," Kuro chuckled weakly. "Just feeling a little disoriented."

According to the internet, he never let himself be weak before he lost his memories. He preferred to lord his superiority over others, forcing them to bow to him. That was not an option now that he was unable to even walk. Because, who would be scared of a man who could not even use all four of his limbs properly?

[Maybe we should leave you to rest.]

He knew exactly what to do in the situation to pull people's heartstrings. He needed to act weak. Granted, he was weak, but he needed to present himself as little as a threat as possible. He needed to hide his true weaknesses, present a multitude of false ones to fool the crowd. That meant no verbal taunts, no letting on more than he knew and most importantly, no getting into fights with superpowered protozoans.

"No, I'm really fine. I want to meet everyone. Can I?"

He used his weakness to his advantage. Gaining people's sympathy, worming under the skin until he was embedded there as a permanent fixture. Gave off the impression that he was struggling to cope with his paralysis and amnesia, with the fact that he had no true friends. Pretended to drown himself in the internet, throwing away all the antidepressants prescribed to him because he never needed them in the first place.

"If you start feeling faint, tell us."

With all that spare time before he was allowed into rehab, he wrote a book based on the psych profiles of the chat members and some of the medical staff and sent it to a publishing company as a joke. He did not expect them to accept the draft, nor did he expect the book to actually sell. He contemplated telling the publishing company that he did not want the book to sell to keep a low profile, but medical fees were a bitch to settle and he needed a job in the long run. Why not a job where he could work at home?

"Don't worry, I know my limits."

The chatroom was one of Orihara Izaya's primary ways of gathering information, so why did he agree to meet everyone when there was a definite risk of being recognized? Kuro did not know. But he did know that it was thrilling, being on the edge of discovery. Seeing people's reactions to his face was amusing. Finding a reaction that literally blew him away had his adrenaline rushing so much more than being cooped up in that apartment.

Celty carried Kuro on her back as Shinra opened the door. Kuro hissed at the sudden light that assaulted him, but it was worth seeing the shocked faces of the people waiting outside. Ah, these were surely people who knew Orihara Izaya before. Pretending to mistaken their shock for concern, Kuro flashed them a blinding grin. "I'm alright now, really."

In the end, it was all about living on the edge. What was the point of dying without experiencing life? Having the threat of being found out loom behind your shoulder was exhilarating, and even more so when a man who could crush your throat with two fingers carried you so gently in his arms after launching you five feet into the air. Not being able to do anything, surrendering his control to that man, it was more than exciting. It transcended all human emotion. In a twist of irony, it made him feel truly invincible.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Mushiki Kuro."

But before he lost his memories, he was known as Orihara Izaya.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amnesiac!Izaya is not stupid!Izaya, nor is he a wimp. But I guess amnesia makes Izaya less bitter because he doesn't remember the Nakura stabbing incident.
> 
> Also, if you're on antidepressants, please don't throw them away like Kuro did. Kuro only pretended to have depression. If you believe you no longer need antidepressants, please consult your psychiatrist.


	15. Dollars; no.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In order of appearance:  
> Siri: Shiri (some woman with a sketchbook)  
> Rabisan: some guy in a rabbit suit  
> Tanaka Taro: Ryuugamine Mikado  
> Takkii: Takiguchi Ryo.  
> Kufuutarou, Nakura: were once Orihara Izaya's Dollar handles.  
> Kazutano: Kazutano  
> Walker: Walker  
> MONTA: Kadota  
> Young Leaf Mark: Kuronuma Aoba  
> Seruru: Celty

**Orihara Izaya?**

1 Name: Siri : 2014-05-03 14:44 [Del]

I swear, I just saw Orihara Izaya. He was coming out of Ikebukuro Station with two teenagers, a male and a female. And guess what? He was in a wheelchair!

 

2 Name: Rabisan : 2014-05-03 14:45 [Del]

I saw them too! I thought I was just imagining things. Didn't Orihara die by Heiwajima's hands a few years back?

 

3 Name: Tanaka Taro : 2014-05-03 14:47 [Del]

Eh? I thought Orihara died. Either way, there's no way that's Orihara. I mean, why would he show his face in Ikebukuro again?

 

4 Name: Siri : 2014-05-03 14:50 [Del]

Didn't you know? Orihara has been selling information after his supposed death! He operates primarily around Shinjuku and Ikebukuro and I even got some information from him, so there's no way he's not alive. 

 

5 Name: Takkii : 2014-05-03 14:52 [Del]

Oi, that's a dangerous thing to say.

 

6 Name: Tanaka Taro : 2014-05-03 15:01 [Del]

Anyway, Orihara is in a wheelchair? That's bad, especially since he's in Ikebukuro. What if Heiwajima finds him? He can't run away then.

 

7 Name: Nakura : 2014-05-03 15:03 [Del]

Aww, you cursed it. Heiwajima Shizuo just found him.

 

8 Name: Kazutano : 2014-05-03 15:04 [Del]

Oi, are you serious? That's bad.

 

9 Name: Kufuutarou : 2014-05-03 15:04 [Del]

I see it too! Here's a picture. [Attached: image001.jpg]

 

10 Name: Tanaka Taro : 2014-05-03 15:06 [Del]

Everything turned out alright? I mean, there was less damage than I expected there to be.

 

11 Name: Rabisan : 2014-05-03 15:07 [Del]

I heard screams. I assumed the worst.

 

12 Name: Siri : 2014-05-03 15:08 [Del]

Haha, that was me. I honestly thought he was gonna kill that Kuro guy.

 

13 Name: Nakura : 2014-05-03 15:09 [Del]

Who's Kuro? The guy in a wheelchair?

 

14 Name: Siri : 2014-05-03 15:11 [Del]

Yup! He declared his name as he jabbed Heiwajima under the chin. Heiwajima Shizuo! That guy has guts. And he isnt' half bad looking either. Kya~!

 

15 Name: Walker : 2014-05-03 15:12 [Del]

I think the guy who openly threatened Shizuo was the better man, hm? 

 

16 Name: MONTA : 2014-05-03 15:13 [Del]

Damn it Walker, you had better be on the way back! We're all worried about you!

 

17 Name: Kazutano : 2014-05-03 15:16 [Del]

A video of the entire confrontation [Attached: video001.mp4]

 

18 Name: Young Leaf Mark : 2014-05-03 15:18 [Del]

I thought it was bullshit, but he really looks like Orihara Izaya. 

 

19 Name: Seruru : 2014-05-03 15:23 [Del]

The mysterious guy in a wheelchair is safe. No major injuries or anything.

 

20 Name: Kufuutarou 2014-05-03 15:24 [Del]

His name is Mushiki Kuro, right? The video recording is pretty clear.

 

21 Name: Kazutano : 2014-05-03 15:31 [Del]

Yup. That's what I heard IRL too.

 

22 Name: Siri : 2014-05-03 15:35 [Del]

Time to go hottie stalking!

 

23 Name: Rabisan : 2014-05-03 15:40 [Del]

You think he's Orihara Izaya in disguise or something?

 

24 Name: Tanaka Taro : 2014-05-03 15:41 [Del]

It can't be. Why would be allow Heiwajima Shizuo to smack him into a wall? If he really wanted to be disguised, he wouldn't be the subject of this thread.

 

25 Name: Nakura : 2014-05-03 15:42 [Del]

True. Orihara Izaya is cunning.

 

26 Name: Takkii : 2014-05-03 15:47 [Del]

Maybe he's a doppelganger? Or a secret twin.

 

27 Name: Young Leaf Mark : 2014-05-03 15:55 [Del]

Wheelchair bound? He's practically defenseless. Perfect bait to draw the underground Izaya out of hiding.

 

28 Name: Rabisan : 2014-05-03 16:04 [Del]

Maybe he is bait. Some doctor changed his face to make the real Izaya go WTF and slip up on his location.

 

29 Name: Siri : 2014-05-03 16:05 [Del]

The strange one is Mushiki Kuro. There are no records of him on the internet. No facebook, twitter, not even a graduation picture.

 

30 Name: Kazutano : 2014-05-03 16:10 [Del]

Well, he could have been homeschooled. It would be a hassle to get around a normal school in a wheelchair.

 

31 Name: Siri : 2014-05-03 16:20 [Del]

True, but... I don't know. It's just bugging me.

 

32 Name: admin@dollars : 2014-05-03 16:21 [Del]

Due to the potential danger of Orihara Izaya finding out about the thread, this thread has been closed permanently.

 

[The thread has been deleted.]

* * *

 

"Tanaka Taro-san is very desperate to close the thread, hm? Too bad I saved a transcript of the thread! Ahahahahaha!"

The person held up their phone in childish abandon, grinning as the entire thread was reuploaded onto the Dollars' website. With heightened encryption and a little virus of their own construct, even admin@dollars could not delete the thread without entering a hacking battle with an extremely skilled hacker. There was no chance that the admin, a mere high school boy, could win against one of the best informants in Japan.

"Better take a picture too. He used to say pictures last longer." A screenshot was captured, and that too was uploaded and forwarded to people's phones via various channels. Soon, all of Ikebukuro would know about it. With this, they could gather information about the mysterious man with Izaya's face and wreck havoc in Ikebukuro at the same time. It was what  _he_ did before, after all.

The person started humming happily as they skipped along the sidewalk. Hotpots to crash, mysteries to unravel. It was a good day.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Monologuing person at the end: unknown (at least for now).  
> Also, I have a very good reason as to why Dollars is still up and running. It is called a 'plot hole'. Or at least it was, but I converted it into a 'plot point' instead. I am not sorry.  
> (Also, how does one write gender neutral pronouns.)


	16. Erika; a warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unlike the boys, Erika could not face danger head on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have written a fifty page thesis on crap I did not understand half the time. I have memorized hundreds of pages on the biological pathways of cell biology a week and a half before finals, and that was only one module out of four. Yet, I cannot find and weave obscure references to anime/manga/light novels into this chapter.
> 
> This chapter makes me feel like a failure.

Erika was stunned when she saw Chrome on Celty's back, but she was even more shocked when he spoke. That face, that voice, there was no mistake. It was Izaya!

But Izaya was dead. Maybe it was like Black God, the doppeliner system was in effect and Kuro was the master root. That explained a lot, like Chrome's paralysis. Chrome was actually a sub who failed to die when he met Iza-tan, making him an Alter. Which was why he got into the car accident, because he absorbed people's Tera to live. It made perfect sense!

"Erika," Kadota warned. Erika blinked. She usually did not notice she was rambling until Walker cut in and gave her his ten cents. But Walker ran out about ten minutes ago without telling her where he went. 

Erika was not worried about Walker, he could take of himself. When they still worked as underground interrogators, Walker was the one who protected her from people who had a grudge against them. Walker burned them to death, and if he could he saved their lives to question them. Ah, if only Erika had half the mercy Walker did. She would have killed them on the spot. 

"Sorry, sorry," Erika said unapologetically. 

"I'm Kadota Kyouhei, and this is Togusa Saburo and Karisawa Erika," Kadota introduced. "Sonohara-san is in the kitchen, but she's a little busy right now."

"Kuro-san, are you alright?" Kida bounded over to the sofa, helping Celty lower the man down onto the soft cushions. Behind him, his girlfriend Saki closed Kuro's phone. 

Kuro laughed nervously. "Sorry, who are you?"

Kida's face fell immediately. "You don't remember? We came to Ikebukuro from Isesaki."

Saki passed Kuro his phone. "Sorry, we looked through your phone to find your emergency contact. We didn't know who was who though."

Kuro's eyes lit up. "Oh! I think I remember. Kida-kun and Mikajima-san, right? Sorry, my memory's kinda fuzzy."

"All thanks to Shizuo," Shinra grumbled, pulling off his latex gloves and disposing of them. "Where is he?"

"Shizuo-san was the one who attacked me, right?" Kuro asked. "Can I meet him?"

An awkward silence fell upon the room. Even though Erika secretly hoped that Shizuo would make peace with his past by interacting with Kuro, she knew it would be close to impossible to get Shizuo to face Kuro now. 

It was obvious to anyone that Shizuo never truly got over Izaya's death. Suddenly having to face a man with Izaya's face, wheelchair bound in the supposed aftermath of their devastating clash, was too much for Shizuo to handle. Though personally, Erika did not see the problem. Even if Kuro really was Izaya, being paralyzed was a much better fate than death.

[Why do you want to meet him?] Celty asked. His answer shocked everyone. 

"He's kinda hot," Kuro mumbled, eyes averted and face flushed. Back in the kitchen, Anri tripped over a mat and landed with a loud clang.

Internally, Erika squealed.

"He threw you against a wall. He gave you a concussion," Togusa pointed out exasperatedly.

If anything, Kuro blushed harder. "That was... kinda hot too."

Screw being discreet. Erika started hopping up and down a little, making indistinct high pitched noises. "Ah, Kuro-tan and Shizu-chan are gonna get married and have children together!"

"Kuro-tan?" The person in question frowned. "And isn't Shizuo-san a guy? Or is he secretly Shizuka?"

"MPREG" Erika screamed. She could see it. Shizuo apologising and Kuro accepting the apology, and Shizuo helping Kuro to walk again. Kuro falling into Shizuo's arms as they gaze into each other's eyes, and their faces get close slowly...

Kadota smacked the back of Erika's head. "I can hear you thinking. Stop it." Erika rubbed the spot Kadota hit and pouted.

Kida shifted from side to side. "Wait, you're... y'know. Gay?" Saki looked like she wanted to smack Kida as well, but stopped when she saw the look on Kuro's face.

Kuro had not budged an inch. But there was a different look in his eyes, one that Erika could only describe as Izaya's. It was a very casual smile that did not reach his eyes, but crinkled at its side instead. It was in the way Kuro pierced Kida with his gaze, as if turning him inside out and examining his innards. His strengths, weaknesses and everything about Kida was laid bare to Kuro.

"Is that a problem?" Kuro asked - no, he threatened - softly.

Kida stiffened. "No. Just... surprised."

In that instant, Kuro changed. His smile became genuine and his gaze became soft again. "I'm glad! I was scared that Kida-kun wouldn't be accepting!"

Contrary to popular belief, Erika was not stupid. She was very well versed in reading body language, on extracting people's secrets without them knowing. The only reason she caught Kuro's demeanour change was because of her prior experience with interrogation. From the way Kida's hands trembled slightly and how his breath quickened by that little margin, she knew he caught it too. 

But everyone else was oblivious. Celty, Kadota and Togusa gave no indication that they saw that brief, one sided battle of wills. While Shinra looked contemplative, it was only because he was absorbed in a medical book of some sort. Anri was still in the kitchen. 

Only Saki seemed to know what happened, and only because she was acutely aware of Kida's moods. She placed a hand on Kida's shoulder, gripping it to ground him to reality.

"Erm, Kuro-tan," Erika reached into her bag and pulled out two copies of Northen Wind. "If you sign this with your real name, I'll drag Dotachin to find Shizu-chan for you."

"Dotachin?" Kuro did not bother hiding the amusement in his voice this time. "Deal if you promise not to sell the signed books or reveal that I'm the author." He paused for a while. "How did you know that I'm the author?"

Celty's helmet looked like it was about to blow off.

"Hey, hey, no deal," Kadota protested. "I never agreed to this."

"Too late, Dotachin," Kuro teased, taking the books and Erika's pen and signing his name quickly. "There you go." He passed the books back to Erika, who tucked them safely in her bag.

"Thanks! Let's go, Dotachin," Erika said as she dragged him out of Shinra's front door. 

"What about me?" Togusa protested.

Erika called back, "Keep your precious van safe!"

Only when Erika and Kadota were in the elevator did she let go of Kadota's hand. She allowed the door to close before speaking. "That man is dangerous."

"Dangerous? He can't even walk, Erika, I think you're making a mistake." 

Erika let her carefree mask slip, revealing her seriousness. "Dotachin, have you ever known a time when Walker and I were wrong about someone?"

"No," Kadota admitted, "but you always had Walker."

"Then find him," Erika insisted. "He'll say the same thing as me."

"I will," Kadota nodded. "I'll track Walker with the help of the Dollars."

"And I'll use the Heiwajima Shizuo Warning Board," Erika finished.

When the elevator doors opened, they pulled out their smartphones and went in separate directions. Erika did not glance back at Kadota. Unlike Erika, he would be fine on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whatever. I'm so unsatisfied with this chapter. In fact, I want to rewrite the first ten chapters. They were complete crap and what the hell was I thinking when I wrote them? Chapter thirteen needs a rewrite as well. You know what, the entire thing is gonna be rewritten sooner or later. I may as well do it... later.
> 
> Why do today what you can do when the story ends for real?


	17. Anri; to love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps this was what it was like for Izaya. Observing humans, being unable to readily associate with them because they did not let you in. No, it was just that you were too abnormal to pass as human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An extra long chapter for the long awaited party! It took us 7 chapters to get here. Man, this is ridiculous. I need to progress the story faster.
> 
> There was some serious writer's block for this chapter. I just stared at the chapter and thought, how do I progress? I mean, I know what was supposed to happen, but getting the characters to that point was awkward.
> 
> On a side note, there are some medical terms that are explained in the chapter notes at the bottom. Read them if you're curious about Kuro's condition. They're not needed to understand the story though. (Not everything is being discussed because some will be discussed in later chapters.)

The hotpot party started without a hitch. Surprisingly, Akabayashi came first. Even though Anri knew that he was in the chatroom, it was still a surprise to see him at the door.

"Anri-chan, you're already here," Akabayashi said as he dipped his head in respect.

"I helped out with preparations since I knew Celty-san in real life," Anri replied. "The shop was supposed to be closed today anyway." Anri bowed a little in response.

Anri was fond of Akabayashi. Even though he was a yakuza, he was a kind man. He protected Anri and the Sonohara shop from the moment her parents died, and even now Anri felt he was still protecting her. She owed him a lot, and she was grateful. 

"There are a lot of people here. And I thought I was early," Akabayashi chuckled. He walked over to an armchair and sat down. "I'm Gaki, real name Akabayashi Mizuki. Nice to meet you."

[I'm Setton, but my real name is Celty Sturluson. I'm sure you knew that, Akabayashi-san.]

"Kishitani Shinra. I'm sure you've heard of me as well."

"Togusa Saburo, not in the chat," Togusa declared. 

"Bakyura, real name Kida Masaomi," Kida held up a hand in salute.

"Saki, real name Mikajima Saki," Kida's girlfriend replied. 

Fate worked in mysterious ways. Not only was Anri in the same chat as Kida all this while, apparently Mikado was Tanaka Taro. They chatted for a bit after Anri was done with the dishes, and Anri found out that Kida had been dating Saki since middle school. She chided him for not telling her about such important news and made him tell her all the juicy details.

According to Saki, Kida saved her from a color gang. While she was hospitalised for an entire year, Kida visited her every day without fail. When she was discharged, they ran away together to escape the color gangs. A textbook love story.

"Who's the sleeping guy?" Akabayashi asked.

"Kuro- er, Chrome," Kida explained. "He dozed off while we were talking. Shinra-san said to leave him alone."

Shinra flipped a page of Kuro's medical booklet, thoroughly engrossed in reading. "And now it's time to wake him up to make sure he's not in a coma. Celty, love, shake him awake please." Celty crouched beside Kuro and started poking him relentlessly.

"Come to think about it, why did he fall asleep in the middle of the conversation?" Togusa asked. "He was literally in the middle of replying."

"Nothing to worry about," Shinra dismissed. "It's a side effect from the traumatic brain injury he experienced years ago. Though according to the records here, the narcolepsy was supposed to have subsided after a year. I think we can thank Shizuo for the relapse."

"Heiwajima Shizuo? What did he do?" Akabayashi asked.

"Make Kuro fall in love with him," Kida mumbled.

"Masaomi," Saki chided lightly.

[Haven't you heard? It's all over Ikebukuro now!] Celty exclaimed. She started tapping her PDA, pulling out a screenshot to show Akabayashi. Akabayashi frowned but did not comment.

Anri had already seen what was on the screenshot. It was a thread that was supposed to have been deleted on the Dollars' website, but mysteriously reappeared a few minutes later. The fact that it had not been taken down yet meant that even the admin did not have control of that thread. Whoever did that wanted news of Kuro to spread. They wanted Ikebukuro to know of Mushiki Kuro's existence.

The only person capable of such manipulation was Orihara Izaya himself. But how could Izaya have posted when there were so many witnesses to him sleeping through the time in which the thread was posted and reuploaded? Why would Izaya draw attention to himself like that? There was no way that Izaya would slip up and make a mistake this big.

There were only two possibilities. Despite Anri's suspicions, Kuro was really not Izaya, or someone else was out to get Izaya and sicced the entirety of Ikebukuro onto him. Anri desperately wanted to believe it was the former.

Kuro yawned as his eyelids fluttered open. "Morning," he greeted sleepily, rubbing at his eyes. "Who're you again?"

"Shizuo-san slammed this guy into a wall because of his face," Togusa explained. "Gave him a concussion. Now he can't remember anyone's names for longer than five seconds."

[That's a rather harsh way to put it, Togusa-san.] Celty shook her head disapprovingly.

"It's kinda true though," Kuro pointed out. "Maybe I should wait until more people are here to start." He curled up into a ball and tried to go back to sleep, but Shinra got up from the other side of the room to slap him awake.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Celty stood up to open the door, but the moment she unlocked it someone kicked open the door. "Food! Where is the food!" Someone roared. He stomped into the living room and sat cross legged at one of the tables, eyeing the hotpot setup greedily.

Behind him, a woman with a remarkable appearance to him sighed. "I'm sorry about my brother." She trailed in after him and kicked his head none too gently. "Eijirou! Introduce us!"

The man - Eijirou? -  glared at her with disdain. "Ow. Barbaric woman... Ow!" Eijirou yelled as the woman pulled his ear. "I can't believe I'm related to you!"

"I should be the one saying that, you fucking idiot!"

Eijirou rubbed his ear and sulked. "Sharo. Name's Sharaku Eijirou. This is my sister, Mikage. It's gonna be a hassle calling us by our last names, so just call us by our first names."

"Yo," Mikage waved.

Anri never had many chances to see family interact. Mikado's family was back in Saitama, so even though they were officially dating she never met his parents. In fact, she did not even know if he had siblings. Mika was an only child and quite isolated from her parents, and she had gone overseas with her boyfriend to further her studies. Until recently, she had fallen out of contact with Kida, and he too did not have any siblings. Aoba hated his brother and cringed at the mere thought of him.

Even though Mikage hit Eijirou and he called her names, there was an unspoken mutual respect between the two of them. It was in the way Mikage took a seat beside Eijirou as if nothing happened between them. Perhaps to them, it was nothing. The insults and physical assault truly did not mean anything to them, it was just another form of communication.

Familial love was also a form of love. Was that how love was supposed to be? All teeth and nails and biting and scratching, an unending clash of wits and wills? Or was it like the movies, where affection was shown by hand holding, soft kisses and light cuddles?

Anri would never know. She could not love, not since the day her family was ripped from her because of Saika. She and Mikado never did typical things couples did, mostly because Mikado sensed that Anri was uncomfortable with them. He never pushed her into doing things she did not want to do even though they had been dating for close to a year. Anri was not sure if she should love or hate Mikado for his inaction, but she could neither love nor hate. The two emotions were two sides of the same coin, after all.

Mikado arrived a few minutes later and this time, they made proper introductions. Anri was surprised to see that Mikado was a part of the chat, but she was also secretly delighted. When Celty first asked her to come, Anri was apprehensive. The only people she knew were Celty and Akabayashi, and they were both adults. Tanaka Taro, Kyo and San and Pure Water 100% were obviously high schoolers, but she always had trouble talking to people her age. With the exception of Mikado, Kida and Mika, everyone else was reluctant to talk to her. Anri could have used Saika's power to make people love her, but she did not. Saika's love was forceful. Love did not force the other person, it took and gave without your consent.

But since Kida and Mikado were here, at the party, it would be fine. Anri managed to get a conversation going with Saki. She managed to talk normally to Kuro before he knocked out. Everything would be fine. 

"Aoba-kun, he's Pure Water 100% by the way, says he's got something on and he's not coming," Mikado told them.

[What about Kyo and San? Does anyone know them in real life?] Celty asked.

Mikado nodded his head. "I know who they are but I've never talked to them before. I don't have their emails either."

"Mikado-senpai, you can have our emails after this!" Everyone turned their heads to the front door. A girl, dressed in a simple long sleeved red shirt and a pleated black skirt, entered the room. She wore spectacles and had a braid that went down her back, but what caught Anri's attention was the coat that she held in her hand.

A black, fur trimmed coat, Orihara Izaya's signature clothing. 

"I'm Orihara Mairu, San on the chat! Nice to meet you all!" The girl beamed and sauntered in.

Orihara Mairu. The name triggered a memory for Anri. In the middle of the previous academic year, the older twin sister Kururi stopped coming to school. She still did her assignments and came for exams, achieving perfect scores in all her classes, but she refused to set foot outside her house unless absolutely necessary. Adding in the fact there were rumors that the twins were Izaya's sisters and Kururi's behaviour change was caused by grief from their brother's death, the entire school knew about it pretty fast.

Mairu dealt with it well. She ignored the taunts about Kururi's absenteeism and repelled potential bullies calmly. But when someone made a passing comment about Izaya's death, Mairu snapped. She cornered the boy in front of everyone with her acrobatics and held a thumbtack to his throat. _Don't talk about Iza-nii like you know him,_ Mairu said then.  _He's not dead. He isn't. He's not the kind of weak existence that yields to anyone, not even death._

"Iza-nii?" Mairu had dropped to her knees in front of Kuro and reached out to clasp his hands. "It's you, isn't it? It's really you." Her forehead met with Kuro's knee, and she started laughing. The small chuckle built up to a hysterical laughter that ended when Mairu choked back a sob. "Iza-nii, you're not dead. You're here. You're really here. You're alive." 

Kuro himself looked lost. He shot everyone a helpless look, pleading them to help him, but no one knew how to react. No one knew if they should pull Mairu away and tell them the truth, or let them enjoy this one moment of catharsis and let betrayal slam them in full force later.

Despite the personality of their brother, they obviously loved him dearly. If they didn't, why were both twins so deeply affected by her brother's death? Why did Mairu collapse to her knees at the sight of their brother, oblivious to the fact that the man was not who they thought he was? Was it true love if she could not tell the difference between their beloved brother and a stranger who happened to look like him?

Not that Anri was in a position to judge. She could not even love, after all.

"Sorry," Kuro cringed, using his hands to pull the sobbing Mairu off him. "I'm not your brother. I'm not Orihara Izaya."

"How did you-"

"Know? That Orihara-san is your brother?" Kuro ruffled her hair, taking out the rubber band that held her braid together. "You called me Iza-nii. People have also been mistaking me for Orihara-san. There's actually an entire thread online dedicated to finding out my relation to him since my arrival in Ikebukuro. It's not hard to piece together." He used his fingers to comb her hair then braided it again, leaning back to admire his handiwork. "There! All done."

Mairu swallowed. "I got it. I were wrong. Sorry, erm..."

"Chrome. Mushiki Kuro."

Her face lit up immediately. "Chrome-sensei!" Everything went back to normal. The tension melted away, replaced with an idle chatter that filled the room. The twins, or rather Mairu pestered Kuro about Chrome's books. Kida was busy introducing Saki to MIkado. Shinra started talking to Eijirou and Mikage about their training techniques. Akabayashi sat in a corner with Celty and Togusa, musing about the wonders of youth. It was as if the previous exchange did not happen.

How did people brush things off so easily? Did the past mean nothing to them, or were they just able to overcome it and move on? Anri's past may not affect her emotionally, but it haunted her all the same. It was the reason she was unable to love, to empathise and feel for other people. It may have been a blessing in disguise that allowed her to control Saika, but it was a burden all the same.

Anri wanted to be normal. She wanted to cast off Saika, to love normally like any other teenage girl would. She wanted to accept Mikado's love, to reciprocate it and form children that were not inevitably tied to Saika's. But she could not, because in the end she was just a parasite. She leeched off her parents and subsequently Akabayashi in her early years, Mika at school and Mikado when Mika found Seiji. As a parasitic entity, she could only receive, not give. That was why she needed Saika as much as Saika needed her. Saika could not be loved because she only ever harmed humans with her love. Anri could not love and needed something to help her love. It was the perfect partnership.

"Anri-chan! Could you help Celty get the meat from the fridge?" Shinra called, breaking Anri out of her trance.

"Y-yes!" Anri responded. She raced to the back and pulled out the ridiculous stack of meat Celty bought. She almost tipped over, but someone caught her back.

"You need to be careful, Anri-chan," Kida sighed, taking a significant chunk of beef off her hands. "Oi, Mikado, how can you let your girlfriend do all the work?"

Mikado pulled out another stack from the fridge and closed it with his foot. "I didn't know she was in the same chat, Masaomi." When had the two boys entered the kitchen?

"Secrets aren't good in a relationship. Just look at my relationship with Saki, we're so open with each other that we-"

"Masaomi, I can hear every single word you say."

Kida bit his lip nervously, shrinking back at the glare Saki sent his way. Mikado laughed at his expense. "Whipped," he teased, elbowing Kida in the ribs slightly.

"Oh, a few years into your relationship, young whippersnapper, and you won't be talking so boldly!" Kida growled in an attempt to intimidate Mikado, but it failed when he almost let slip of the many trays of meat.

They were only saved with the quick action of Eijirou sliding across the floor to catch them. "Don't waste food, kids!" Eijirou yelled, looking very ridiculous with his arms and legs splayed at awkward angles in an attempt to catch all the meat. He succeeded in doing so, but they landed on his body instead.

Mairu giggled. "Master, you look like one of those naked sushi ladies!"

Akabayashi nodded sagely. "In my dealings with the Asuki-gumi, they did hire a Nyotaimori to please the Awakusu-kai. Eijirou-san does vaguely resemble a 'naked sushi lady' right now."

Kuro's eyebrow twitched. "Akabayashi-san, I can't tell if you're joking about your dealings with the yakuza."

"Does it matter? Why am I being compared to a naked sushi lady?! And why the hell are you taking photos, Mikage?!"

Eventually, everyone settled down and started eating. As expected, Eijirou and Mikage took a lot of meat. Kida ate anything he fished out of the hotpot, dodging Saki's attempts to feed him some vegetables. Everyone else took a healthy amount of rice, meat and vegetables, including Anri.

Anri noticed something about Shinra that she never noticed before. "Shinra-san, you're a vegetarian?"

Shinra's chopsticks stilled midair. "Yes. If Celty is cooking I don't make a fuss, but I try to avoid meat and Celty knows."

Anri wanted to ask more, but she sensed something change about Shinra. Whatever happened, he was not comfortable with talking about it. So she backed off and reached for more pork belly. 

"Hey, Celty-san, are you alright? You haven't taken a bite," Kuro asked, concerned. "In fact, you haven't taken off your helmet at all."

Everyone froze. Living in Ikebukuro, it was impossible not to know about the infamous Headless Rider. But Kuro did not live in Ikebukuro, so he was obviously clueless about the urban legend surrounding Celty. Anri looked around the room, wondering who knew about Celty's headless state and had seen it in person. Shinra was obviously one, seeing that he lived with her. When Anri attacked Celty with Saika all those years back, she did too. 

"Now that you mention it, you haven't eaten at all!" Eijirou exclaimed. "Hey, want some meat?" He shoved his meat pile under Celty's helmet.

Celty held her hands to her helmet. Anri sucked in a breath. Would she really reveal her headless nature to everyone?

To Anri's surprise, Celty actually pulled her helmet off. But what lay below was not black smoke wafting out of her neck. It was an actual head. A light brown haired, misty blue eyed, pretty faced head. But around Celty's neck were bandages that stuck out against her skin. Shinra must have attached Celty's disembodied head to her body using bandages. 

[I can't eat. You guys enjoy yourself!] Celty smiled, touching the bandages lightly. While Anri knew that Celty could speak with her head, she also knew that Celty had to keep up appearances in front of people who did not know of her true nature. 

Kuro deflated a little. "Sorry, Celty-san. I didn't know."

"Me too," Eijirou shrunk back, looking like a child being chided for doing something bad.

[It's alright. You didn't know.]

"Celty-san, you should put the helmet away," Togusa whistled lowly. "You're really pretty."

Shinra went into hysterics. "No oogling my beloved!" he shrieked, lunging for Togusa. They went down in a flurry of limbs, Shinra gaining the upper hand within seconds. "Celty is mine! Mine!"

[Shinra! Please contain yourself!] Celty shoved the PDA in Shinra's face, using her other hand to pull Shinra away by the scruff of his collar. Shinra shot Celty an indignant look but did not protest.

Celty managed to placate Shinra by feeding him. Upon seeing that, Kuro abandoned his food and asked for his laptop, glancing at the happy couple periodically as he typed furiously. Mairu tried to peek at the screen, but he flicked her in the head before she could make out what was on the screen. "No spoilers," he teased.

Kida and Saki's love was quiet, shared in flickered gazes and light touches. Celty and Shinra's love was louder, shouted on the rooftops and paraded for everyone to see. Love in anime and manga was sickeningly sweet and unrealistic, with every conflict being resovled as fast as possible and the couple embracing at the end. But that was not how love was in real life.

Love was volatile, it warped and changed whenever it wanted. Love was destructive, as seen by the lengths Celty went through for Shinra two years ago. Love was self-sacrificing, as seen from how Kida risked his life to save Saki when they first started their relationship. Love was throwing away yourself for someone else in hopes that they too would give all of themselves to you in exchange.

Love was shared in many different forms, but Anri could only ever be an observer. Mikado could wait for her all he wanted, but they would never partake in such meaningless actions. No, they were only meaningless because Anri did not find meaning in it.

Mikado should not wait for her. He should find someone else who could reciprocate his love.

Togusa left first, his increasing worry for his friends starting to eclipse reason. Mikage offered to walk Mairu home, leaving Eijirou to go home by himself. Akabayashi received a call from one of his underlings, prompting him to leave abruptly. Mikado and Kida wanted to stay and help Celty clean up, but Saki pointed out they needed time to unpack at Mikado's apartment, so they left too. 

Apart from the original residents of the apartment, there was only Kuro and Anri left. Shinra was in the kitchen, washing and drying the dirty dishes. Celty was taking out the trash. Kuro shut his laptop and let out a breath. "I'm tired and I didn't even do anything! Sonohara-san, you've been here helping Celty-san and Shinra-san prepare everything, and you're even helping them clean up!" Kuro flashed her a small smile. "You're incredible, Sonohara-san."

"N-no," Anri stammered. "Celty-san is just a very good friend of mine."

Kuro's eyes shadowed over. "I wish I could help." He snapped out of his depressive state a second later. "Ah, Sonohara-san, you shouldn't waste time chatting with little old me. Go make yourself useful. Shoo." He shoved her towards the kitchen lightly, intent on getting her back to work.

She took a step away, but the moment she did Kuro collapsed on his side. His laptop crashed to the floor, one arm dangling limply from the couch. His eyelids were closed, but from the way they twitched it looked as if he was trying hard to open his eyes.

"Kuro-san!" Anri ran to the kitchen to get Shinra, but he had already heard the commotion and came rushing to the living room. Shinra first adjusted Kuro's body so that he was lying comfortably on the sofa while Anri went to get Shinra's medical supplies. He checked Kuro's eyes with a torchlight, then snaked his hand under Kuro's shirt to examine his heartbeat with a stethoscope. 

Anri was just about to avert her eyes when she saw caught a glimpse of the skin beneath Kuro's shirt. His skin was mottled and angry, the remnants of a burn scar lingering on his flesh forever. She wanted to turn away, but for some reason she could not stop staring as Shinra pulled up Kuro's shirt to his stomach.

Scars from knife wounds, burnt flesh, gunshot wounds, they all had a place on Kuro's skin. There was a thin scar that ran from one side of his waist to the other. A puckered gunshot wound stared back at her from above Kuro's hipbone. The burn scar that Anri first saw spread from Kuro's right all the way to the centre of his stomach.

Even an amateur like Anri could tell. These wounds were not sustained in a car accident.

Anri turned to leave, but Shinra stopped her. "I usually have Celty help me, but since she's not here I'll need your help, Anri-chan," Shinra said. Anri nodded. She watched as Shinra, done with his examination, pulled down Kuro's shirt to cover his stomach again. He placed his forehead on Kuro's chest, shoulders trembling slightly. It took a while for Anri to realize that he was crying.

"Shinra-san-" Anri started, but Shinra cut her off.

"I'll be fine. Just let me have this moment. Please."

Not knowing what to do with herself, Anri excused herself to the kitchen to fetch two glasses of water. She set them down on the table, trying to avoid looking at the two men, and sat on one of the armchairs. It was awkward for her to remain, but Shinra had told her to stay.

After a few minutes, Shinra wiped his eyes with his sleeve and pulled away. But as he tried to get up, Kuro's hand held the back of Shinra's head and held it to his chest. "Idiot," Kuro murmured, tussling his hair like he did with Mairu. "I'm fine."

"Izaya-"

"Who's that?" 

Shinra pulled Kuro's hand away and glared hard. "Stop pretending-"

"Then stop interrupting me." Kuro's eyes flickered to Anri and back to Shinra again. "I can explain."

Anri understood immediately. Kuro did not want her to know. She stood up and headed for the door, but as she reached for the doorknob the door opened in her face. Celty stood there, her helmet back on 

"Celty, dear, good timing. Please take Anri-chan back home," Shinra waved dismissedly.

[Did something happen?] Celty asked.

"Nope," Kuro said, popping the 'p' at the end. The two men shared another glance and turned back to Anri and Celty. "It's getting late, Sonohara-san. You should head back soon, and I'd feel better if you didn't go alone." Shinra nodded fervently in response.

Anri nodded hesitantly. "Then, I'll be going now." She slipped on her shoes and stepped out of the door after Celty.

"Stay safe!" the two men chorused. 

When the elevator door closed, Celty immediately held up her PDA. [Are you sure nothing happened?]

"I'm not sure myself," Anri admitted.

From the stories that Celty told her before, Shinra and Izaya were good friends before his death. They met in middle school, their bonds solidified by Shinra taking a stab wound for Izaya. What drove Shinra to do such a thing? Was his friendship with Izaya that strong? Was this how platonic love looked, where two friends knew what they were thinking just by a flicker of a gaze?

Mikado and Kida were like that as well. Even though they had been separated for years, even though they had conflicts with each other, their friendship was still as solid as ever. They met in elementary school and when Kida moved to the city, they kept in touch throughout the years. They were good enough friends that Kida managed to convince Mikado to move to the city to attend the same high school as he did. Their bonds were strong enough to withstand the hammer of betrayal that struck after their secrets were revealed. It landed Mikado in a coma and forced Kida to leave Ikebukuro, but they were friends nonetheless.

Anri did not have any friends like that. Even before Mika found Seiji, they never had that kind of friendship. Anri trusted Mika and discussed her problems with the other girl, but they were never able to instinctively tell what the other was thinking. It was the same with Celty. After Mika left for America, Anri often confided in Celty, but they were never able to achieve the level of friendship comparable to Mikado and Kida.

Kuro and Shinra had only just met. How did they manage to get to that level of communication when Anri was unable to find someone like that after years of searching? Or was Anri the odd one out, the only one who was unable to achieve that level of friendship? It would not be strange because Anri was the strange one. Friendship was just another form of platonic love, it was not a surprise that she was unable to build strong bonds.

[You look tired,] Celty fretted. [Are you alright?]

"I'm fine," Anri forced a smile. "Just tired."

[Sorry for making you help! We should get you home fast.]

Celty made a shadow helmet for Anri and they both got on Shooter. Anri snaked her arms around Celty's waist and pressed her head to Celty's back. She could think about the implications of Kuro and Shinra's actions later. Right now she just wanted to rest. 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nyotaimori (dubbed 'naked sushi lady' in this fic, though naked lady sushi would probably be more accurate) is the Japanese custom of eating sushi from a naked female body. Apparently very popular among yakuza.
> 
> What is narcolepsy? It is feeling very sleepy in the day, sleep paralysis, hallucinations etc. Narcolepsy is often accompanied with cataplexy. Cataplexy is when someone loses control of their bodily functions in response to extreme emotion. It can be as mild as drooping eyes or as severe as a complete collapse.
> 
> Why is Kuro narcoleptic? Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) from the fight with Shizuo. Orexin/hypocretin is a molecule that regulates wakefulness. In the fight two years ago, Izaya damaged his hypothalamus, the place where orexin is produced. His condition actually eased off after a year (or rather, he responded well to treatment), but because Shizuo gave him another concussion (a mild form of TBI) he got worse.
> 
> (I actually wanted Kuro to lose control of his bowel/bladder during the cataplexy attack, but nah. That means I'll have to split the chapter and I miss out the chance to explain platonic love in Anri's eyes since she can't follow them to the bathroom.)
> 
> Why does Kuro have so many scars from the fight with Shizuo? Well, you don't think Izaya escaped unscathed from his enemies for an entire decade, did you? I have no doubt that with that stunning personality of his he got himself into deeper shit than expected.
> 
> If you want more information, you can ask in the comments. I can't do a proper, formal medical report on human anatomy though, lol. I can, however, bombard you with the terms. And if you're a med student or a doctor, great, please help correct any mistakes.
> 
> Oh, and nothing plot related. That includes Kuro's amnesia and paralysis.


	18. Togusa; a destination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He knew exactly where he was going, he just never expected his destination to be the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, when the prologue of Unravel ends (WE'RE STILL AT THE PROLOGUE? WHAT?), I am taking a break from this fic and going on to BitW. At least one chapter to it. I have everything planned out and holy fuck, this is going to be a monster. I just hope it's under 100k words.
> 
> Yes, even I am getting sick of the slow pace of this fic. I've learnt my lesson, no convoluted plots next time. This fic is a clusterfuck of what-the-fucks. But since I started it, I might as well finish it, right? Sigh.

Kadota gave Erika and Walker their bags as a present for leaving the underground. To Erika he gave a sling bag, to Walker he gave a simple backpack. They treasured those bags deeply, carrying them wherever they went.

Exactly like how Kadota wanted them to.

Those bags had a secret GPS tracker sewn into their seams. That GPS tracker had a battery that could last for almost 10 years and allowed Kadota to track their location from any part of Ikebukuro. As long as the two of them remained in Ikebukuro, Kadota would know exactly where they were.

Which was why Togusa was not worried when Walker ran out, nor was he anxious when Erika dragged Kadota away. He had a copy of the tracking device in his van, under the driver's seat. He could track both Erika and Walker down if he wanted to, though Kadota urged him to refrain from doing so unless strictly necessary.

When Kadota emailed Togusa, telling him about his meeting with Walker, Togusa was not affected in the least. Even though Walker asked for some time alone, Kadota and Togusa would be able to find him if he got into trouble. He replied Kadota's email, promising to keep an eye on Walker while Kadota went to work and promising to do his best to restrain Erika's fujoshi tendencies when she came back.

Erika never came back. Togusa shot her a text asking her if she was returning soon, but she only replied him to tell him that she was too busy convincing Shizuo to chat Kuro up to bother about him and his anti-yaoi stance. With everyone's presence accounted for, Togusa convinced himself to sit back and enjoy the free food.

But as time passed, Togusa got more anxious. Neither Kadota nor Erika had given him any updates on their status, and Walker was still missing. So he left before everyone and went to his van to dig out the tracking device, reassuring himself that it was absolutely necessary to use it now.

It was no secret among the four of them that Walker was not entirely stable. While Walker could assimilate into normal society, he needed an anchor to ground him to reality lest he go back to the way he was. Usually it was Erika and Kadota, but there were times when they were both unavailable and Togusa had to step in to control Walker.

Togusa remembered when he first met Walker and Erika, drenched in blood and gore, the slight singe of burnt flesh still caught in their hair. He was terrified, but Kadota just walked up to them and introduced himself as if there was no pile of dead bodies littered around them, as if the stench of death did not linger around them.

Togusa did not worry about Walker. He worried about the people who met Walker while he was in that frame of mind.

The dot on the screen blinked. Togusa recognized the place Walker was at. It was the abandoned parking lot where Kadota and Togusa first met Walker and Erika. It was also quite close to Togusa's apartment, about a five minute walk away. Maybe he could park his van at home and pretend to go on a midnight walk.

He did park his van a block away from his apartment, but he hesitated now that he was this close to Walker. Togusa was no Kadota. What if Walker turned on him instead? What if Walker came out of his bloodlust to see Togusa injured at his feet, burn wounds covering his skin and trying but failing to crawl away pitifully? Walker would only blame himself. It would only make him worse.

But Walker knowing that no one came for him, that no one was willing to accept him, that was worse than any potential injury Togusa could sustain. So he steeled himself and starting his stroll, walking slowly to take in the peaceful atmosphere of Ikebukuro's night.

The peace did not last long. Togusa heard sounds of a scuffle as he approached the parking lot. He ducked behind a wall and peeked out, wanting to know what was going on without alerting anyone to his presence.

"Yumasaki-san, are you sure you don't want to come with us? We'll play nice." There were at least six people gathered around Walker, who was panting heavily and kneeling on the floor. There was blood dripping down one side of his arm, which he clutched at an awkward angle. Five of those people had shark masks on, and they were all armed with weapons like knives and baseball bats.

The person who spoke was the only unmasked person He was an unremarkable teenage boy with dark blue hair and matching eyes. He wore a white, hooded coat that went down to his knees and a simple blue shirt and pants. He carried something under his arm, but what exactly Togusa could not see clearly from the distance. 

"Izumii!" Walker gritted out.

The boy grimaced slightly. "Huh, don't call me that. I've cast away that name for a few years now." The teenager - Izumii? - circled the kneeling Walker. To Togusa's knowledge, Izumii was almost a head taller than this brat and much more muscular. They may have the same hair and eye colour, but that was about it. "But it is true that I am the leader of the Blue Squares."

"And what does the Blue Squares want with me?" Walker asked mockingly.

The boy smiled brightly, as if he was anticipating the question. "You defended Mushiki Kuro from Shizuo, so you must have some connection to him. 'I questioned Yumasaki Walker' is what I will tell Mikado-senpai. But I do have a different agenda. I want to recruit you."

"I left the Blue Squares. I'm not joining because of some snot nosed brat."

"Oh? Will this convince you then?" The boy set down and opened a laptop in front of Walker. There was a video playing, but Togusa was too far away to see it clearly.

Walker stiffened and lunged for the laptop, but got pinned down by two Blue Square members. "Erika!" he yelled, struggling against his captors.

"How about this?" The boy tapped the keyboard and the live feed of Erika was switched to something else. This time, Togusa recognized it. The ugly vase on the coffee table was one that Togusa got for Kadota's birthday as a gag gift, though he did treat Kadota to dinner afterwards. It was the interior of Kadota's apartment. 

"Damn you..." Walker growled. 

"Ahaha! What will you do now, Yumasaki-san? Will you give yourself up for the sake of friendship just like in the anime and manga you love, or will you escape with your friends as we hunt you down to the ends of the earth? Ah, humans are so interesting. We choose the path that leads to ruin despite knowing fully well that we can carve our own routes. Why? Is it the uncertainty of where that path leads? Is uncertainty that much worse than the path to ruination?"

"...there's still hope. You haven't got any men on Togusa."

"Really? Hmm..." The teenager tapped his chin, as if he were in deep thought. "Oh, you mean the insignificant one?"

"Togusa is not insignificant. He is my friend."

Togusa could not help but smile at Walker's declaration. Why was he ever worried that Walker would turn on him? No matter how twisted Walker was, he was still human. He could not even bear to see his friends hurt. There was no way that Walker would willingly turn against them.

The teenager clapped happily. "He is, isn't he? He is a very good friend. A good friend will follow their friends into the depths of hell, right?"

Togusa had no time to react as two people grabbed his arms from behind and pulled him out of his hiding place. He struggled, trying to resist their grip, but to no avail. They dragged him to the centre of the confrontation and released him roughly, blocking off his escape route. Togusa cast a sideways glance to Walker, who was trembling with anger.

Then the boy spread his arms out as if to welcome Togusa to the party. "Then he should follow us back to base! I'm sure the rest won't mind one more guest. The more the merrier, right?"

"Orihara Izaya," Togusa blurted out. 

The smile slipped off the boy's rapidly darkening face. "How do you know that name?"

So Togusa was right about the boy's identity. Kadota once proposed that the Izaya that was running rampant in Ikebukuro was a successor of sorts, and it looked like that was true. "Only one person can monologue about humans that well, and that's Orihara Izaya," Togusa declared, trying to mask his fear with false confidence. "And you said you cast away your name. It must've been to take on Izaya's name and continue his work."

"Haha. Ahaha. Hahahahaha!" The boy clutched his sides as he laughed, the sound of it echoing on the nearby buildings. It chilled Togusa's spine and instilled a sense of danger in him. His instincts were telling him to run, far from the boy with madness in his eyes that reminded him so much of Orihara Izaya.

Eventually, he recovered from his laughing fit. He looked at the open side of his palms in disgust. "I can't even break free of Mikado-senpai's control," the boy spat. "I am far from the perfection that is Orihara Izaya."

"Captain, someone's coming!"

"It's time to end this charade anyway." One of the masked men raised a bat over Togusa's head at a flick of the boy's hand. "Don't worry, it'll be over before you know it."


	19. Saki; underestimated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People forget that Saki was the only person to have successfully betrayed Orihara Izaya without consequence.

"Can't say I'm surprised," Saki said, skipping over the brown haired man's unconscious form. "Izumii Aoba-kun." She ignored the masked thugs tying up the other person and focused on Aoba instead. He had grown a lot since she last saw him, gaining more than a few inches and sharper features over the years. His shoulders had broadened, his voice had deepened, and beneath the long sleeved coat Saki was sure that he had put on a few pounds of muscle.

The one thing that did not change was the eerie smile on his face. It reached the corners of his face without looking awkward, closed mouth and never reaching his eyes. It was one thing that Aoba, Saki and Izaya had in common.

"It's been a long time, Saki-senpai," the boy smiled, "and please don't call me that. I've changed my name."

"Then what should I call you? Orihara Izaya?"

"Kuronuma Aoba," he explained. "My parents divorced."

"I see," Saki replied nonchalantly. "But you are the person behind Orihara Izaya, no?"

The moment Izaya sent them orders after his hiatus, Saki was convinced that the person was not the real Izaya. The style he wrote in was exactly the same, with that air of commanding and superiority, but his actions alarmed Saki. Izaya had never been one to target a person without a specific reason. When he zoomed in on one person, they were either a target, a client or someone useful to him. For Izaya to drop everything and demand for Masaomi and Saki to find someone was very out of character.

Masaomi never noticed, but Saki did. She had been trained by Izaya to look at the finer details, to never believe in coincidences. People tended to forget that she was the one person whom Izaya let get away with betrayal, and it was not because he had a soft spot for her.

"Sorry, but you're wrong!" Aoba's smile turned to a smirk. "I'm just working for Orihara-san."

"Why?" Saki asked.

Aoba rolled his eyes. "Why are you working for the person who got your legs broken, Saki-senpai? Does your boyfriend know that you've been following different orders from him?" His eyes lit up in realization, and he leaned so closely into Saki's face that his nose bumped against hers. "Does he know of your midnight trips to seduce and, ah, take care of men?"

Saki narrowed her eyes, her permanent smile turning the slightest bit cold. "He does not and he never will. And I do not take care of men that way. I'm loyal to Masaomi."

"That's why you're keeping secrets from him, right?" Aoba dragged the last syllable on for a split second longer than it should be. He flashed her an innocent grin, one she did not buy at all. "Keeping the fact that you're a murderer from your precious boyfriend?"

"I just want to protect my precious person," Saki caught the flash of pain in Aoba's eyes, a chink in his armour that she focused on and attacked. "Just like you."

Aoba took a step back, his eyes turning wary. Both of them remained silent. They watched as the thugs blindfolded and dragged the two bound men into an inconspicuous van nearby. The conscious one looked vaguely familiar to Saki, but it had been years since she set foot in Ikebukuro and she did not keep in contact with anyone other than Masaomi save for 'Izaya'. Maybe he was one of the Yellow Scarves?

Eventually, Aoba spoke. "You weren't dubbed Orihara Izaya's greatest success for nothing, after all," he mused.  "On a list of people he could use, your name was circled. Beside it was written 'my greatest success'. Guess you should be honoured, huh?"

Saki was mildly surprised. "Izaya-san thought that highly of me? But I betrayed him," she pointed out.

Aoba shrugged. "Because you betrayed him, maybe. Who knows what that man is thinking." 

Izaya had never openly praised Saki or any of the other girls for their efforts. She always assumed that she was repaying her debt to him after saving her from her darkness, that it was something she needed to do to gain his attention. She never knew that she always had it.

She wished she had known sooner. That way, she could show him her gratitude before he died.

Aoba dismissed the masked thugs, waiting for them to leave before he continued his conversation with Saki. "By the way, Saki-senpai, you definitely had the brains and resources to run from Orihara-san when you were given the order to kill. Why didn't you?"

The answer was obvious to Saki. Everything Saki did before Masaomi was for Izaya. After she met Masaomi, she lived for him. As long as he was alive, she was happy. She would still follow Izaya's orders, and if his orders did not interfere with Masaomi's well being she would not hesitate to boycott those orders. 

"Because Masaomi has bonds here, in Ikebukuro. If I were to run away, he would follow. He would have lost these friendships. I don't want Masaomi to be sad."

But at the same time, Saki wanted to please Izaya. She did not want Izaya to be disappointed with her. She had always thought that her value to Izaya dropped after she betrayed him, which was why even though she knew the new Izaya was not the real Izaya, she still strove to prove her worth.

To her, if she lost her purpose as Izaya's tool, she could only rely on Masaomi. But Masaomi was not the sort of person to use people as pawns. Which was where the conflict lies, because Saki was an existence to be used. She loved Masaomi, yes, but she also needed someone to direct her life. Masaomi was too kind a person to see Saki that way.

Even if Izaya was not the original Izaya, he used her just like she wanted him to. That was okay. She got to keep Masaomi for herself and maintained her existence as a tool. It was a win-win situation.

There was a flicker of respect in Aoba's eyes as gestured to the backseat. "Get in, we're gonna see the boss."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, next we finally meet the person masquerading as Izaya. I think some people should have figured it out by now. I'd be surprised if no one did.
> 
> I've always loved the parallels between Aoba and Saki. They're both kinda twisted, masochistic to an extreme, but the difference is that Saki found her salvation in Kida. Aoba's morality chains... are less moral than most. You could technically add Izaya to the mix in this one, except he never had a morality chain to pull him back.
> 
> (Okay he did, but said chain got stabbed in the abdomen in an attempt to impress his headless not-girlfriend.)
> 
> Next chapter marks the end of the prologue. Yes, twenty chapters for a prologue, though most chapters were under 1k words. Kill me.
> 
> If you're still reading, thank you for your patience. This fic's pacing is screwed to the max but it still have some loyal followers. You know who you are :)


	20. Tsukumoya's chatroom; no. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is disturbing. I got physically sick writing it. I had to stop multiple times to compose myself. If you're squeamish, back off. If you're easily disturbed, back off. I can't and won't give specific warnings because of spoilers.
> 
> To those who did not read the novels: Tsukumoya Shinichi is an online information broker. You contact him by logging onto his chatroom. He is (was?) Orihara Izaya's primary source of information.

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

Why hello, Orihara. 

 

_Orihara Izaya_

You've been away for a while. 

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

Unlike you, I do have a life. But enough talk about me. What brings you here?

 

_Orihara Izaya_

I need information on Mushiki Kuro.

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

Oh? Why is the great Orihara Izaya researching a helpless, innocent man?

 

_Orihara Izaya_

That's none of your business.

 

 _Tsukumoya Shinichi_  

It isn't, but humour me. Because I have no information to sell you.

 

_Orihara Izaya_

What do you mean?

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

Exactly what I said. He's boring. A clean slate. Absolutely no records other than medical ones. Intriguing, isn't it?

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

Ah, but I'm sure you knew that already. It was all over the Dollars website. So this bit of info is free.

 

_Orihara Izaya_

You think he's not really Mushiki Kuro, but he's someone else? 

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

I'm sure you know better than others, right?

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

...Orihara- _chan_?

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

Oh, the friends you never had are calling me. See you!

* * *

Mikage offered to walk Mairu home, but it was not because she was afraid that Mairu would get attacked. In fact, Mikage pitied Mairu's attackers. The girl struck to kill, not to subdue.

She did it because it was an excuse for Mikage to get away from Eijirou. If the meeting dragged on for too long, Mikage could say that she slept over at the twins' place. If she got injured, she could say that she protected Mairu. 

They took many detours. First, Mairu insisted on buying various snacks for everyone at the headquarters. She then picked up a dark chocolate cake Kururi preordered, along with some birthday candles. Then she received a text from Aoba, asking her to pick up something that Saki mailed over from Isesaki. They walked to meet the other underground transporter (not the Black Rider, never the Black Rider) and received the package from him. Mairu made sure that he was under Saika's control before letting him go.

Mikage thanked the heavens for Saika's existence. If not for Saika, the death toll would be high.

When they finally arrived at the apartment rented under Aoba's brother's name, everyone was already there. Aoba greeted them at the door, the hem of his coat stained with blood. "Welcome," he said as he opened the door, welcoming them in. Mairu set the bags down and handed Saki's package to her.

Saki took it with a smile. "Thanks," she dipped her head as she said.

Shinra finished examining Togusa's head the moment they arrived. Deeming it unnecessary to bandage the wound, he pulled the garotte Saika out of the palm of his left hand and started practising complicated manoeuvres with it. Though Saika only needed a little cut to infect a person's mind, sometimes Shinra had to strike to kill.

Mairu bounded over to Kururi, who was typing away furiously on two computers at once. Years of being a shut in made Kururi unaware of how normal people dressed. She only wore striped panties, thigh high stockings and one of Izaya's old coats, which was open at the front.

Shinra and Mikage had given up on getting her to zip it up, with the twins saying that Izaya never zipped it up unless it was the longer version of the coat. Getting her to wear the longer version of the coat was no use too, because it went past her feet and dragged on the floor. Neither twin could stand dirtying Izaya's coats.

"What did Tsukumoya say, Kuru-nee?" Mairu asked, leaning over her sister's shoulder to peek at the screen.

Kururi pulled up Tsukumoya's chatroom logs. Mairu scanned through it and pursed her lips. "It's like he can see through us. Like he knows that we're..." she trailed off, unsure of how to respond.

It took a few minutes for the chat to ping. "Oh, look! He's online again," Mairu pointed out.

* * *

 

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

Waiting for me, Orihara? I didn't know you enjoyed my company so.

 

_Orihara Izaya_

The info on Mushiki Kuro?

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

The only thing I have is his medical records. And you already have them, don't you?

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

Or, at least, one of your lackeys does. 

 

_Orihara Izaya_

Not even a place of residence?

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

You mean you can't do a simple thing like IP tracking? How amateur, Orihara. It's as if you just started out.

 

* * *

"Did you try IP tracking?" Mairu contemplated.

"Positive (it bounced back to our address)," Kururi whispered.

Shinra's eyebrows shot up. "If even Kururi-chan can't crack it, I don't know who else but Tsukumoya can."

* * *

 

_Orihara Izaya_

Cut the crap. You know as well as I do that his firewalls are solid.

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

Really? They seem pretty weak to me. Like an average person's firewall.

 

_Orihara Izaya_

So you do have his location.

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

I've known it even before you logged in to the chatroom. I can see your search history, after all.

 

_Orihara Izaya_

5 million yen.

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

Tell me why you're so interested in him first.

 

_Orihara Izaya_

10 million yen.

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

How about this? We swap information. If you tell me your real identity, I'll tell you everything about Mushiki Kuro.

 

_Orihara Izaya_

I am Orihara Izaya.

 

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

No deal, then.

 

* * *

 

Mikage clucked her tongue. "He's pretty persistant."

"He's toying with us," Mairu clenched her fists. "He knows our identity, he just wants to confirm it."

"Then why not tell him?" Saki asked. "You're not losing anything if he knows."

When Kururi and Mairu first continued their brother's job, Tsukumoya Shinichi contacted them. He mocked them openly, always insinuating that he knew that they were not the original Orihara Izaya. He dropped hints about their true gender and belittled them for amateur mistakes that Izaya would not have made. Today was the first time he openly said that they were imposters.

But whatever they did, they kept up the act. They were Orihara Izaya. Not even they could change that fact.

Mairu shook her head. "We can get the information about Mushiki Kuro from other means." She turned to Kururi, who logged off from the chatroom with a click of her mouse. "Ready, Kuru-nee?" Kururi nodded.

The twins joined hands. When they did, their expressions changed. Their entire demeanour changed. Mairu's look of mischief melted into something more sinister, and Kururi stood up straighter and tipped her chin up slightly. Mikage did not know when Mairu put on Izaya's trademark coat, but she did. Izaya's reddish brown eyes always did seem to glow crimson when he was up to something, just like the twins' eyes now.

"Report," Kururi commanded, eyes flicking to Aoba.

As the second-in-command, Aoba started first. "My brother has no new updates on the Awakusu-kai. He's too low ranked," he complained.

"Solved that problem," Shinra piped up. "Cut Akabayashi-san with Saika today." As if to prove his point, Shinra summoned Saika from his left palm and pulled the wire taut.

Aoba looked impressed. "Also, Mikado-senpai is very anxious about the reupload of that thread. It won't be long before we can break him." He grinned at the thought of getting revenge on his senpai.

"Saki-chan?" Mairu asked.

Saki tilted her head in acknowledgement. "Akai-san? He's dead."

"His head?"

Saki threw the package on the floor. She ripped a hole in it before, so the severed head rolled out of the bag to the twins' feet. His eyes were open and bloodshot, and his tongue hung out of his mouth slightly. The stench of rotting flesh filled the room.

The twins grinned. "Thanks, Saki-chan." Still holding hands, Mairu picked the head up by its hair and threw it a few feet away. It bounced a few times before rolling into a corner. "Shinra, Mikage-chan, about Mushiki Kuro..."

Shinra's voice trembled as he spoke. "There's no mistake. I know Orihara-kun's scars like the back of my hand. The burn scar was from the Sumiyoshi-kai. There is a stab wound from Yodogiri Jinnai he got on his birthday. His index fingers had been severed and sewn back, and the scars are there. That's Orihara-kun, no doubt."

"None at all?" Saki asked.

"I'm running a capillary electrophoresis on his blood overnight. The results should be out by morning." Shinra pulled out his phone and accessed his gallery, showing them a few pictures of a handwritten notebook's interior. "There was a book he carried around. It details his medical history and current medication in case of an emergency. I called the emergency contact under the guise of checking up on him. A woman called Mamiya Manami answered. Anyone know her?"

Mikage remembered her. She had been one of Izaya's suicide victims. When Izaya was in the hospital for a stab wound, she snuck in and tried to kill him. Though with the state of the twins, it would not do well to tell them that Manami attempted to kill their brother before. "She worked for Izaya," MIkage settled on. It was the best she could do.

Saki spoke up. "Amnesia. What are the chances that he's faking it?"

"Nonexistent. I hacked the medical records. He does have amnesia," Kururi replied.

"Then he's the original Orihara Izaya, just without his memories," Aoba deduced.

"But Yagiri-kun said he was dead," Shinra protested.

Mairu laughed heartily. Kururi giggled. "She must have meant that his identity was gone, and to her that was as good as dead." The twins bumped their foreheads together, their noses almost touching. "But if we are around, Orihara Izaya will never die. We will carry on his legacy."

No matter how many times Mikage saw the twins kiss, she could never stop chills from running down her spine. Their kiss was neither chaste nor short. It was drawn out, sloppy and wet and passionately fierce. Mairu reached up to grab Kururi's head, while Kururi moved her free hand to Mairu's waist. From the corner of her eye, she saw Saki avert her eyes.

Eventually, the twins stopped to catch their breath. When they separated, a thin trail of saliva hung between their lips. Mairu smiled and planted another kiss onto Kururi's lips again, eyes smothered with lust.

"You're sick," Walker hissed.

The twins turned to Walker. "Oh, we forgot you were there, Yumasaki-san!" Mairu dragged Kururi over to him. "How are you feeling?"

"I won't work for you."

"Aoba-kun, what did you tell Yumasaki-san?" Mairu chided. "We don't want our guest getting any wrong ideas." She let go of Kururi's hand and tilted Walker's chin up, forcing him to make eye contact with her. "We just want to talk."

"Then you can let me go."

Mairu pouted. "But if we do that, you won't be able to listen." She skipped around Walker's bound form, oblivious to the glare he sent her way. "Because you'd have to die."

Mikage knew they were not joking. The members of their organization had just openly discussed their plans and activities. Saki even sent a head rolling their way. If Walker were to leave the room, he would go straight to Kadota and rat on them. If their plan did not work, Walker would have to die or surrender his life to Shinra's Saika. He was too much of a liability. 

"Anyway, we wanted to talk to you about your friends. Let's start with Karisawa Erika. She's an otaku, just like you. Ah, but there's a difference between you two right? Karisawa-san has friends. You don't."

"Karisawa-san is my friend. Kadota-san is my friend. Togusa-san is my friend."

"Yet you refer to them with honorifics!" Mairu laughed hard. "Haven't you been 'friends' for years, Yumasaki-san?" Walker flinched, hurt evident in his eyes, but Mairu continued. "She has friends other than you, Dotachin and Togusa-san. She has a life, Yumasaki-san, unlike you. Why would she bother with someone like you?"

"I-" Walker started, but the words died on his tongue.

"Let's move on to Dotachin. He's a good friend, isn't he? He's the one who pulled you and Erika out of your slump. He's always by your side, helping you when you stumble and watching to make sure you don't fall back into the darkness. But it's not out of concern for you. It's because he doesn't trust you."

Walker shuddered. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you? Or do you not want to admit it?" Kururi lifted Walker's backpack and signalled for Shinra to slice it to pieces. Mairu bent down to pick up a little electronic gadget. "What's this? Isn't this a tracking device?"

"It's-"

"It is! It is!" Mairu clapped happily, twirling around as she did. Izaya's coat followed her actions, leaving a trail behind her. "Ah, but don't worry. We had Aoba-kun disable it beforehand. Neither Togusa-san or Dotachin will be able to follow you around now. You're free." Another snap of her fingers, and Walker's restraints were cut open without Saika grazing Walker's skin.

"Free?" Walker looked at his own palms, at a loss on what to do.

Mairu nodded sagely. "Free to leave. Free to do what you want. Even if no one loves you anymore, you have the freedom to be yourself."

Walker was openly shaking now. "I can't... I can't be myself. Not if no one will accept me."

"Ah, but you have to," Mairu tutted. "The only person who can live with yourself is you, after all."

"I can't..."

"Hiding will do nothing. Masking your true self only makes it want to come out more. When even Kadota, Karisawa and Togusa don't believe that you can suppress your desires, how can you? When it finally claws its way out and presents itself to the world, what will you do?" Mairu leaned forward and whispered, "Without anyone left to force the monster back into you, how can anyone love you?"

Walker clutched his head and dropped to his knees, screaming in anguish. His broken cries reverberated around the room, bouncing off the walls and filling Mikage with dread. Doing this was wrong, and yet it was necessary. They had an interrogator in Mairu, but she was needed elsewhere. Walker was needed to fill the job.

Mairu too dropped to her knees. She wrapped her arms around Walker's head and rested her chin on his skull. Behind him, Kururi looped her hands around his waist. "It's okay. We love all of humanity. We'll accept you, because you're only human."

"You'll... accept me?" Walker said in a small voice.

"Of course. We'll make sure you don't turn into a monster. If not, even we won't be able to love you." Mairu kissed the top of Walker's forehead as Kururi nuzzled her face into his back. "Follow us. We will make sure you don't stray from your path."

Walker's eyes turned dull and lifeless. Whatever remaining fight was left in him died instantly. He slumped forward, hands braced on the ground. He was now completely broken, a useless doll made to dance to the twins' strings. And dance he would, until the twins threw him away or he died.

"No wonder you two turned out like that. With Izaya as your brother, it's not a surprise you're not normal."

The twins turned to look at Togusa simultaneously. They stepped away from Walker and stalked towards Togusa instead. Since the man was tied up, he was unable to do anything but watch and listen as his friend was psychologically tortured. 

Mairu held up her index finger. "You're right, Togusa-san. We're not normal. But you're wrong about one thing. Our brother isn't to blame. Neither are our parents, the friends we make or the activities we partake in."

The twins leaned forward in unison. "In other words, it's us that are twisted.

"We were the ones who were split into two in the womb. We were the ones who were exactly the same in everything we did. We were the ones who decided to flip that coin and take on different personalities to become a perfect human being." Mairu sighed dramatically. "But we lost sight of that goal. We became distracted. We forgot our original purpose of being a complete human being."

She turned around and spread her hands dramatically, just like Izaya would have done. "Iza-nii never forgot. He always strove to find perfection in humanity. We never saw what Iza-nii was trying to do and shunned him." She brought her hands to her chest, clasping them to her lips. "We should have never done that. If we supported him, if we just paid a little more attention, maybe he would still be here. But we were too late in realizing it.

"When Kanra logged on to the chat for that very last time, we were betrayed. Someone was trying to take Iza-nii's place. No one could replace Iza-nii. No one." Their crimson eyes flashed with anger. Kururi's grip on Izaya's coat tightened.

"To prevent that, we took on his name, his job and his life. Kuru-nee became a shut in to improve her hacking skills. I trained at the dojo twice as hard. We work to cover our weaknesses, but to do that we needed to become strong.

"By taking on a shared name, the combined existence of Kuru-nee and I can finally be together again!" Mairu laughed, and Kururi followed suit. "But we never knew what name to choose. Not until Iza-nii's death.

"We will live on as our brother. Orihara Kururi will commit suicide. Orihara Mairu will follow a week later. In our ashes, Orihara Izaya will rise again. And this time, we will make sure that he is a complete, perfect human being."

"You're sick," Togusa hissed.

Mairu smiled bitterly. "So was Iza-nii. But did anyone listen to his cries for attention? Did we, as children, understand that the crimson, parallel lines carved onto his skin was a call for help?" Kururi cast a stern glare at Shinra, who shrunk back a little. "Did anyone ask him if he was alright? Did anyone show concern for him, even in the slightest bit?

"No. But he loved humanity all the same. He accepted everyone, from their strengths to their weaknesses, the inherent flaws in their personalities to the unpolished gems hidden within!" Mairu's voice rose to a crescendo then dropped to a whisper.

"Why didn't anyone accept him? Why did we reject him like everyone else?" 

There was no answer. Deep down, Mikage asked herself the same question.

Once upon a time, she loved Izaya. She fell in love with the boy from Raijin High, the one who smiled playfully in front of everyone but went to the rooftop during lunch to watch everyone with a melancholic expression on his face. Eijirou may have been right about Izaya getting her expelled from Raijin, but what he did not know was that she did it willingly to protect the boy she loved.

Even after so many years, there was still a tinge of emotion she felt for him. It was the reason she agreed to help him in his plan to cause mass havoc in Ikebukuro. But Izaya died fulfilling his plans. Mikage always told herself that he died chasing his dreams, so he must have been content.

Despite his actions, Izaya truly did care about his sisters. He sent them to her for training to protect them against any enemies he made. He had Eijirou and the Black Rider protect them from thugs. After his death, Mikage took them under her wing. She knew that Izaya would want them safe. 

The world the twins wanted to venture into was unsafe. She tried to pull the twins back when they went under, she really did, but they were already too far gone. So Mikage decided that if she was not able to pull them back to safety, she would follow them into the danger to keep them safe. It was the least she could do.

"But he's alive, isn't he? Your brother," Togusa said as he struggled against his bonds. "He may not remember you two, but when I saw him he was... _happy_. So you don't have to do this anymore, right?"

Mairu hummed. "You're right. Without his memories, Iza-nii is happy." She clutched the coat and pulled it tighter around her shoulders. "But he has forgotten his purpose, just like we did before."

They smiled together, the same kind of smile Izaya used to wear. An empty, fake smile, one that did not reach their eyes. "It's alright. He can remain as he is. We will take up his goal in his place. On this day next year, we will be whole again." Kururi gestured to Mikage for the cake. Anticipating the action, Mikage brought it forward. She had already placed two large candles and seven small ones into it, though she did not light them yet. Kururi took a lighter from Walker's pocket and lit the candles.

The clock struck twelve just as they lit the last candle. "Happy birthday, Iza-nii. One more year till you are born again."

* * *

 

 _Arc 1; end._  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, I lied. Walker isn't the most disturbing character. The twins are.
> 
> I'm interested in writing a one shot detailing exactly how the twins ended up like that, but not now. Maybe later.
> 
> I'm taking a break from this fic and moving on to BitW. After that I have to visit relatives (a tradition known as Chinese New Year) and then there's finals. Argh.
> 
> See you guys in a month I guess. Shizaya starts then. Until then, I urge everyone to reread chapters 1-20 at least once. You'll be surprised at what you find.


End file.
